Never Again
by Doctojuji
Summary: After the events on the Citadel, Commander Annie Shepard awakens to discover she has supposedly been dead for two years. In the mean time the Reaper threat is stronger than ever and while she's trying to save the galaxy once more, she's also trying to discover what she's lost. Annie can only hope she finds the strength from the people she loves when the time comes. (F Slash)
1. Her Greatest Regret

_I'm not leaving you either_.

The moment Annie told Liara to leave she found herself regretting it as if a part of her knew it would be a while before she could apologize. But she didn't have time to dwindle on those thoughts, Joker had to be evacuated before whatever this enemy was swung around for another attack.

Annie charged through the Normandy, forcing herself to ignore the exploding hull and burning flames of a place she had once called home. Grieving for the hunk of metal would be done once in safety.

"Come on Joker, we've got to get out of here!" The pilot put up as much of a fight as a man in his position could. Joker had been one of the few members of the crew that had stuck with Annie since day one. Since walking on the ship as XO to Admiral Anderson Joker and Annie had been attached at the hip. They had familiar past issues that both of them chose to deal with by ignoring and replacing with heavy amounts of sarcasm. In the pilots case it was the brittle bone disease that kept him isolated to the pilot's chair. Certainly the man was an excellent pilot, one of the best if not _the_ best, but his fragile bones kept him from being able to take the field or move that quickly, which made the pair's quick escape a little difficult.

She practically threw him into the escape pod and was sure she had fractured a bone or two of his but there was no time to complain. Unfortunately, before Annie could swing herself into the pod an explosion hurled her from her position. The world slowed and Joker watched helplessly as Annie drifted towards the eject button, barely able to brush her gloved fingers along it before another explosion tossed her casually into space.

And then the silence set in.

The explosions echoed in the distance as Annie attempted to survey her surroundings. She was alone, no ship, no crew, no form of contact. It was just Annie in this giant expanse of space. She'd never felt so alone.

Suddenly, the unfamiliar sound of escaping air alerted her to the worst. Annie reached back, felling the pressure of the releasing oxygen from her mask. Minutes of life ebbed its way out of her suit as the gravity of the nearby planet finally took grip on her vulnerable body. Slow drifting turned into an accelerated fall, Annie's lungs screamed in pain for air. She couldn't tell if the burning in her lungs was from the lack of oxygen or the atmosphere burning up around her.

Her body grew slowly limp, blue eyes drooping as an odd sense of drunkenness took over. The burning no longer seemed to bother Annie and her thoughts turned to something familiar, something blue, as Liara's face appeared in her mind. It was angry, furious that Annie had put Liara's safety before her own, but oddly enough it was a thought that made the commander smile in the last moments of her life.

Or that's what she thought.

It felt like only a moment before she was gaining consciousness again due to the shouting from some overhead speaker. The voice was female, a curious accent in which Annie couldn't depict between Australian or New Zealand. Either way she was shouting at Annie to get up, that the facility was under attack and she needed to move. Facility? Where the hell was she? The last thing Annie remembered was the attack on the Normandy, saving Joker, the explosion…

Annie's eyes snapped open and she tried to sit up casually. Almost immediately her body refused, Annie's stomach screaming in pain and jaw feeling like someone had spent the evening punching it out of place. Her vision was blurry, white lights making dots appear as she stumbled from the table. The table? Glancing over her shoulder to see a surgery table, computers filled the room and machines sat idle. An uneasy feeling settled into her stomach.

"Shepard, you don't have time. Grab the armor and pistol on the table and get moving. I'll try to direct you to the transport stations, but you have to get moving." The alarm in her voice was familiar and Annie decided that more of her questions would be answered if she got to wherever this woman wanted her rather than standing here thinking.

She introduced herself as Miranda, though the exchange of names didn't make Annie feel any better. She seemed to know almost too much about Annie, or at least that's what it felt like. Like how she knew Annie would so eagerly jump to attention when it came to getting herself out alive. But again she had to tell herself that that wasn't important now, what was important was shooting her way through the threatening mechs.

Only, it was on her trip out that she discovered something disturbing.

Annie ran into another affiliate of the facility with more military training than science knowledge. He introduced himself as Jacob and made it very clear he was just the muscle of this place rather than the brains. But he did know something Annie didn't care to acknowledge.

"You spent two years on that table and so I guess someone wants you really dead this time." Two years. The words felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. Annie looked for some sort of tell in the man's face, hoping – _praying_ – he was about to break into a smile and tell the commander he was joking. But he didn't. Instead his dark-skinned face remained hardened with a painful amount of pity in his eyes.

She had always hated when people pitied her. Then again it was a look she got often when people found out where she was from. The colony Mindoir was attacked by slavers almost fifteen years ago when Annie was ten years old. It was the first time humans had to deal with the troubles of colonies. And it was still a memory that rested firmly in her nightmares.

"Look…" she stated as he finished explaining more about this facility, "let's just get to the shuttle station. Miranda said she would meet me there," Annie really just needed time to think. She needed time to sort through the emotions that were spinning around in her head. Now, wasn't that time.

Eventually, though – and after several fire fights – Jacob and Annie made it to the shuttle station, Miranda waiting for them almost too casually. It was then that Annie discovered whom this facility belonged to: Cerberus. She had dealt with them before, though it wasn't anything more than cleaning up the messes they made. Cerberus never had Annie feel like it was a "bring someone back to life" sort of group. Then again, she supposed she hadn't looked much into Cerberus's dealing during her military time. She had always been focused on more important things to be frank.

COMMENTS: So here we are, I finally finished up ME2 and have started writing stuff for ME3. This is gonna be a long one folks and I'm gonna try and post at least twice a week, might even be every other day considering the 70 pages I have right now. I may or may not be taking suggestions depending on if I can fit it into the story well enough. Hope you enjoy!


	2. Remembering What Was Never Forgotten

The three departed from the facility, heading to what Annie assumed would be another Cerberus based in some part of space. All she really wanted was a moment to herself, but once Miranda started to bring up psychoanalysis tests Annie realized it would be a while before she got that privilege.

"I just want to ask a few questions to test your mental state," she remarked, typing things into her omni-tool. Despite no longer being on the table Annie still felt like some science project to Miranda. And she supposed that it made sense since Miranda had spent two years on the Lazirus project…on Annie.

She was a curious woman and was certainly well endowed in all the right places, almost perfectly. Her dark brown hair never seemed to fall in a bad way and her deep brown eyes looked like that were taking in hundreds of details with every blink. She looked unnatural, stiff, as if she'd never learned how to blend into a situation.

"We'll start from the beginning. You were born on the colony Mindoir, one of humanities first, as well as the first colony to be lost to a slaver invasion." Annie leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she gave a slow nod. "You were the only one that survived, how?"

"I…" Annie paused, my mind wondering which story they knew, whether it was the one to hide her troubles or the one that expressed them. "My home had a maintenance space and my mother had locked me in it before the slavers could get to me. It was a week before a alliance marine unit found me." Miranda nodded, acknowledging that Annie had answered correctly, despite the known story being wrong.

Annie's father had been one of the first to die when they attacked, working in the control tower for the colony. It was the first building to fall. Her mother had dragged Annie's brothers and her from school and they watched as shuttle after shuttle was shot down, as women and children were dragged from their homes onto slaver vessels. Annie's mother swore she wouldn't let that happen to her own children. So she hid them in the crawl space just as their home was broken in.

The first sound Annie remembered wasn't the gunshot, but the dull thump as her mother's body hit the floor. They had been forced to watch, the slavers probably believing it was how they began breaking the children. But Annie just remembered feeling numb. As a child she simply didn't know how to comprehend anything. She felt like something had to happen that would save them. That's what happened in all the stories. The bad guy lost, every time.

But soon she found herself being dragged off to one of the ships and separated from her brothers. They couldn't even say goodbye. The Alliance believes Annie was saved before the slavers took her…but that wasn't true. Three years later her Master's ship was attacked by an Alliance marine unit, their leader – Commander Anderson at the time – stormed the pilot deck. Annie watched as her Master was killed, as the asari body fell limp in the captain's chair. The commander picked Annie up and made promises of safety but she didn't know what safety was anymore. Her blue eyes no longer showed the childhood twinkle, her body was marked and her spirit was broken.

The real story was that she wasn't brought back into the world a week after the attack. It took Annie three years after Anderson saved her from the ship to be able to enter society. And it was a secret they would take to the grave.

"Okay, something a little more recent," Miranda remarked, bringing Annie back to the task at hand. "During your mission to apprehend the rouge Spectre, Saren, you collected a particularly odd crew of characters to fight him. They are…?" Annie smiled some, thinking back to the first times she had met her crew. They were so easily marked as misfits, as the ones their own species didn't even want. But she loved it; they all did, because for once they all felt like they were in the right place doing the right thing.

"Well, there was Chief Ashley Williams, an Alliance solider stationed on Eden Prime during the attack. Admiral Anderson had her reassigned to the Normandy believing her skills would be put to better use there. Then there was Lieutenant-Commander Kaiden Alenko, a biotic that gave his life to save my team and me on Vermire. Garrus Vikarian, a turian, brought on for his impressive gunman skills and knowledge on Saren. Tali'Zorah, a quarian on her pilgrimage that found the evidence we needed to convict Saren on attacking Eden Prime. Her technical skills are beyond anything I've ever seen. Urdnot Wrex, a strong headed Krogan with surprising views as to the future of the Krogan race. We butted heads a few times…but there's no man I would trust more to have my back." Annie paused as the final crewmate lingered in her mind.

"Doctor Liara T'Soni," she started, clasping her hands together as images of the beautiful woman began to fill her thoughts. A small smile pulled at her lips, "A brilliantly smart asari with some of the greatest knowledge on the Protheans known in this galaxy." Annie remembered Liara's laugh, giving a small smirk of her own, "And I've never met anyone so beautifully oblivious," she breathed, her eyes slowly flickering up to the pair. Miranda didn't take much notice to it but Jacob gave Annie a saddened look as if he knew something she didn't.

"Do you know where they are? I know it's been some time but…" Annie started, finding herself unable to finish the sentence.

"I'm certain we can find them without any problems," Jacob promised, getting a small glare from the corner of Miranda's eye.

"Well," Miranda huffed, her omni-tool disappearing as she turned her attention back to Annie. "It seems the major things are in order, I plan to do more tests once we get underway but that'll do for now." Annie didn't like the sound of it, especially with how the first few had made her feel. But it was best not to fight it now.

Once they arrived at the base, she had the "privilege" of meeting with the Illusive Man. Then again, "meeting" wasn't exactly what the pair did. Instead it was a simple hologram phone call. Annie supposed with a man in his business, remaining secluded was important. Either way it didn't sit well with her. Especially with how casually he sat in that office chair, smoking a cigarette and looking at Annie with his unnatural eyes. She again felt like she was only being given part of the story.

But as quickly as they had arrived she was being sent off again, to Freedom's Progress where the human colony had been attacked. The only thing she didn't like about it was how little it seemed to involve the Reapers. Sure, Annie knew the majority of the Alliance considered her crazy and the fact that she saved the Citadel was the only thing keeping her out of the psychic wards, but Annie know what she saw. She knew what she felt. Those Reapers stood for nothing more than mechanical progress and the removal of all organic things. Then again…from what Miranda told Annie, she was almost part robot herself with all of the upgrades they screwed into her body. It certainly was nice to know she had a few more toys to play with…but it wasn't sitting completely right with her. Something about her body, didn't exactly feel like hers.

COMMENT: Also, I will probably not be able to post a cover picture for this for at least a week when I'll have more time to sit down an draw it. Anywho, two chapters to start you off. Enjoy!


	3. They Moved On Without Her

The group charged into the colony and Annie found it all feeling too odd. When the Illusive Man told her that the colony had been attacked she immediately imagined the burning features of Mindoir. But this place was nothing like that. It just looked abandoned, as if the entire colony had up and left in the middle of dinner. The only sign of life was the reprogramed mechs that they continued to run into, nothing too difficult.

The greatest surprise of all, though, was running into a quarian team. They came barging through a colonist's abandoned home, met with raised guns and the familiar appearance of facemasks and decorated body suits. "What do you want?" One of the male quarians hummed only for another to come beside him and push his gun to the side.

"A-Annie?" The voice was familiar as Annie's eyes focused in on the source and she smiled. She never thought she would be so happy to see a breathing mask before…then again Annie never thought she would be able to recognize someone just by said breathing mask.

"Tali," Annie breathed, immediately holstering her weapon as she pulled Tali into her arms. Annie's body yelped, a few muscles still sore from all of the commotion but she ignored it as she squeezed Tali tight. It was then Annie realized how long it had been. She could feel it in the way Tali hesitated, in how she gingerly patted Annie on the back and recoiled from her embrace. Sadness stabbed Annie in the gut as Tali shook her head in disbelief.

"What…how…?" She asked, looking at Miranda and Jacob and then taking a step back. "And why are you working with Cerberus?"

"I…It's not what it looks like!" Annie quickly sputtered out, "They brought me back to life. In return they asked me to help look into disappearing colonies. That's why we're here."

"How long…how long have you been up?" She questioned, gesturing to the scars that still showed brightly on Annie's face.

"No more than a few hours. It's been…busy," Annie chuckled as Tali joined in with the nervous laughter. The two spoke some more, trading information on the colony and where they should be heading. They agreed to team up for the simple purpose of getting to the target: an overly nervous quarian that had been stationed here on his pilgrimage. Walking from the shelter as a group, they prepared to part ways as they finished up the details of the plan.

"Annie…" Tali called, stopping Annie from heading off, "do you plan on contacting Liara?" The question made her look away as uncertainty filled her features. Tali laid a gentle hand on Annie's shoulder and if she could see Tali's face she was sure there would be a sympathetic smile. "It might be best to see her in person, first. It'll be easier on her." Annie wanted to ask Tali what she meant by that but decided not to, almost too scared to. Two years could change a person and she had to admit she was terrified about what two years could have done to her lover. But Annie chose to ignore it, soldiering on as she always did.

Annie, Jacob, and Miranda made their way through the colony, finally coming upon the very distraught quarian, Veeto. He kept muttering about the monsters coming back for him, to take him like they did with the humans. Annie didn't like the sound of it, and certainly didn't like the look of it as he showed them security videos that caught the villains in the act.

Collectors, as Miranda called them. Annie heard the name uttered every so often between higher ranked Alliance officers but hardly enough to get any sort of picture. But here they were and she wasn't sure how to take the information. Instead, Tali allowed them to take Veetor's omni-tool while the quarians took the injured and troubled brother back to their fleet. Miranda and Jacob didn't seem quite pleased but it was a firm reminder to both of them that even though Cerberus was funding this, Annie wasn't one of them. Information was good, but it always came at a price and I refused to kidnap Veetor just because the operatives hoped to squeeze a few more drops of information from the traumatized alien.

When they got back, though, was when Annie realized just how much the Illusive Man was hiding from her. He knew about the Collectors and only seemed to use this mission as a way to strengthen his theory. Annie couldn't hide how much that bothered her. He was a man at a desk, a man that didn't see death unless it was behind a computer screen. It was as if he completely ignored the colony of people simply gone.

"I need you to go after them. We've traced their last known location to the Omega 4 Relay. But no ship that's traveled there has returned." Annie crossed her arms over her chest with a frown, it wasn't the impossibility that bothered her, it was the "but" that hung heavily in the air. "I've collected a team of specialized operatives to help you with your mission."

"I had a good team," Annie spat, her fingers digging into the armor in her bicep to keep her still. The Illusive Man simply gave a disappointed sigh as he tapped the ash from the end of his cigarette.

"Shepard, it's been two years since then. They've moved on." He said it so matter-of-factly. Maybe they had, maybe they hadn't, but she didn't care. Two years or not they wouldn't just ignore Commander Shepard when she needed them.

"Well where have they gone then?" Annie asked, raising an accusing brow as if she had caught him off guard.

"Ashley Williams has taken up a post at a human colony in the Terminus system, some sort of Alliance undercover mission. I doubt dragging her away from it would be easy. Urdnot Wrex returned to his people in Tachunca. I hear he has a very firm place in Krogan politics. Garrus disappeared off the radar only a few months after you were declared dead. Tali…she was unexpected but I believe she's given you her own reason for being unable to come along." Annie bit on her lower lip, attempting to keep it from trembling. They _had_ all moved on. Commander Shepard died and they just got on with their lives…was she really that easy to forget?

"And…and Doctor T'Soni?" She couldn't even bring herself to speak about the asari on a personal level.

"She is on Illium, apparently working for the Shadow Broker. Being involved with her could jeopardize our mission." Annie cleared her throat and nodded, my spirit crushed as he went on about the rest of my requirements, about needing a new ship and pilot. In truth she hardly heard him, her mind still rolling over the fact that her friends…her family had moved on without her. Sure it had been two years, but they had to have had some hope that Annie would come back. Right? The great Commander Shepard couldn't just…die.

Annie turned from the call only to come face to face with Joker. He gave her a big smile like he always had, filled with excitement as she forced one of her own. The pilot jabbered on about what happened after she died, Annie simply nodded along as she followed him down the hall. When the Normandy SR-2 was revealed she had to admit it took her breath away a bit. To see the old girl back…it was the first good thing Annie had going for her since waking up.

COMMENTS: I've decided, at least for a little bit, to post two chapters a day since there is A LOT to get through. Enjoy!


	4. Personal Inspection

The first place she went was her quarters. Annie needed time to herself, just to process it all. It wasn't much larger than her quarters on the Normandy SR-1, though having her own floor and bathroom all to her self would be nice. She sat down on the edge of the bed, giving a small smirk; just as hard as the old one, before her eyes drifted to the mirror by her bed. Annie's fingers moved up to the scars along her cheek and jaw, the synthetics glowing through. It didn't hurt but it definitely unsettled her as she stood from her place.

Slowly Annie undid the top of her uniform, sliding the sports bra from her torso, as she stood there half naked. Taking in a deep breath, she turned so that Annie could see her back in the mirror. Immediately tears rushed to her eyes as she looked at her perfectly unmarked back and the clean skin. Annie stared at herself in the mirror before closing her eyes as an odd combination of laughter and crying shook her body. For fifteen years she had been left with the only reminder of her time as a slave. She had considered getting the markings removed but could never do it, as if the broken child was still there and knew the punishment for such an act.

"Commander," Miranda called as the doors to Annie's quarters opened. She quickly grabbed for her sports bra, her back to Miranda as she immediately apologized. "Sorry, I would have figured EDI would have warned me," she remarked. EDI was the artificial intelligence on the ship, a program completely aware with human-like tendencies, except for the emotional bit.

_I would have figured you would knock first_, EDI answered coolly through the ships intercom system, which seemed to annoy Miranda. Annie simply coughed, clearing her throat and wiping at her eyes as she grabbed for her top.

"It's okay…I was just looking at the new me," Annie smiled, finishing the last button on the shirt as Miranda seemed to give a small smile.

"I hope you like. The Illusive Man was strict on making sure you were exactly like you had always been but I took a few liberties in some areas. Mostly the figure and skin, covering all major markings with a fresh knew skin graph. I apologize on the facial scars but Dr. Chakwas seems confident that in time those will heal as well."

"I…I noticed and it's okay," Annie said silently, as Miranda tilted her head to the side.

"Was there something you were hoping we had kept?" It was so innocent Annie couldn't help but laugh, waving at the comment.

"No, thank you. I'd been planning on getting rid of the…mistake for years," she gestured to her back as the small smile returned to Miranda's face. With the pleasantries over Miranda sat Annie down for another round of twenty-questions with her past. She passed with flying colors, glad that Miranda either didn't ask or didn't know about certain details that she wasn't comfortable discussing.

After about an hour Miranda stood from the couch and Annie followed her towards the elevator, time would be better spent getting to work than moping around. "Oh, before I forget," Miranda remarked, reaching into her tight uniform to pull a necklace out and over her head. "This is yours," she handed it to Annie as the commander looked at the trinket on the silver chain. Slowly a smile pulled at her face as she realized what it was.

When the Citadel had been saved, Annie was allowed a well-disserved shore leave and chose to take Liara back to Ilos. It certainly wasn't for Annie's benefit, but she loved nothing more than to watch Liara swoon over the Prothean history. And it was there that the couple found a curious device. It had been broken and was probably nothing more than garbage at that point but they didn't care. After shore leave they had them made into necklaces, the semi-flowing and glowing blue gem set on a silver backing. It was meant as something to remind each other that they weren't alone. Annie had never let it leave her sight.

"It was given to us when we collected your body, with specific instructions to return it to you when you woke," Annie nodded, placing it back over her head. She did have to admit she was curious about the missing dog tags that she had added to the necklace but decided they'd removed it for the sake of security or something. The metal was cool against her skin but familiar and oddly enough it gave her the comfort she needed. This little thing had survived just like she had. Maybe there was more about her past that was still around after two years. Annie could only hope.

If there was anything Annie was good at – despite getting out of impossible situations – it was ignoring the bare necessities. Things like sleep and food didn't matter when thousands, or in this case millions of lives were on the line. She had to crack down on finding this team of "experts" that the Illusive Man had so kindly named and take out the Collectors as soon as possible.

And that took the Normandy to Omega.


	5. Insert Flahsback

The first of these candidates was a salarian doctor, named Mordin Solis. Annie couldn't exactly see what the help of another doctor might give but he apparently had the scientific expertise to help with finding a way around the Collector's swarms. They were these massive clouds of nanotech-like creatures, able to sting their victims and cause some form of statis. If they were to stop the Collectors they would need to keep them off of their backs.

Sadly, the station was a big place with lots going on and so EDI advised that the small group to head to the Afterlife and speak to Aria T'Loak. Annie didn't know much about her, then again she didn't know much about the Terminus system in general. The Alliance never seemed to like having their operatives going into Terminus space unless completely necessary. Annie supposed that's why Ash's mission was considered undercover. The Terminus system was no place for the Alliance, far too many rules had to be broken here just to survive.

"So, this Aria, she's some supposed expert on Omega?" Annie asked into her com-unit as the three of them walked carefully through the station's streets. Apparently staring was a "thing" on this station, although sometimes it was more of a glare than a stare. Annie didn't particularly care; she just wanted to get done what needed to get done.

They appeared at the doors, an elcor bouncer looking half asleep as a guy tried to convince him to let him in. A batarian looked in their direction as Annie eyed the line, wondering what would take longer, waiting to get in or just searching the station for Mordin herself. But it seemed she was expected. "You can come in, Aria is expecting you," he remarked, throwing his thumb over his shoulder at the door as the guy in line started complaining louder.

_Aria T'Loak is known as the leader of Omega,_ EDI responded as the doors opened up to pounding music. _And from the sound of it you should tread lightly_, Annie rolled her eyes, half expecting a woman that was all bark and no bite. So many people believed they were "treading lightly" material when in fact what people really feared about them was the money they put into muscle. There was no respect in having others handle one's dirty laundry.

But almost the moment Aria and Annie laid eyes on each other Annie realized that EDI was probably right. Aria was an asari that was very,_ very_ old, probably older than Annie was five times over…and then some. She'd seen the world change and she knew how to adapt to it. Annie supposed that's how a station full of criminals was so easily able to fall inline behind her. The men that did surround her were not there as hired muscle, they were there as protection to the people involving themselves with her. They were there to make sure that she suddenly decided to kill you.

Another batarian stepped up, pulling out his omni-tool to scan Annie as she raised a curious brow. Batarians never sat well with the commander, not after certain run-ins during her time as a soldier and the few that she dealt with as a child. But these aliens seemed "well-trained" in a way. Unlike most they knew how to keep things professional and to not harp on how horrible humanity was to their people. "If you're looking for weapons," Annie pulled a pistol from her hip, "you're not looking very carefully." The purple-skinned woman turned from the strippers in the center of the club with a small smirk.

"I have to take precautions when the supposedly dead Commander Shepard comes to visit. Have to make sure you're who you say you are," the batarian finished the scan and stepped to the side as Annie continued up the stairs to the large couch that curled around the nook. It was a throne to be put it lightly, a very large throne and lush throne. "Why do I feel like I've seen your face before," Aria remarked casually as Annie crossed her arms over her chest, leaning on her back leg. If Aria knew who Annie was then she knew why Annie's face was familiar. Not to toot her own horn, but she was _the_ Commander Shepard.

Aria snapped her fingers with a mischievous grin, "Mira T'Leek," the name made Annie's skin crawl and her breath caught in her throat. "She was a cold bitch wasn't she? Not a stupid one, though. Certainly saw potential in you," Aria laughed as Annie continued to give her a disbelieved look. "Oh please, you can't honestly expect that in the business I'm in I wouldn't be involved with a slaver or two. Mira was a close…friend, though I use the word lightly. More of an opportunist and we both saw use in each others relations." Aria stepped casually forward and reached towards Annie, the soldier flinched as Aria grabbed for her left ear, pushing at the few wisps of blonde hair that had fallen from Annie's hairband and had earlier curled behind her ear. "She was always keen on her ownership, though," Aria muttered, exposing the skin behind Annie's ear with a small smirk.

Miranda must've thought it was a birthmark, or maybe she didn't even control how that part of Annie's skin looked. On the surface was a black up-right triangle, the letter M scared in white in the center. "I can't say I was sad when I found out she'd been killed. Our business had been finished for a while by then." Aria stepped back as Annie found herself searching her memories. Those three years she had suppressed so far into her subconscious that she found it surprising when Aria's grin appeared in her memories.

Annie was still ten at the time and still filled with some form of rebellion. Maybe that's why Mira had wanted to take Annie to Omega, to show her what the darker side of the galaxy had to offer. Annie just remembered hating the looks as they walked into the club, the people shying away from Mira and looking at Annie as if a sign marked "slave" was hung around her neck. Most of the conversation she tuned out when they finally arrived at Aria's throne – which Annie now remembered looked exactly the same as it had before. The pair talked about business, trade, shipments and so forth and Annie simply stood by the top of the stairs, letting her eyes wander.

"You've never been known to bring along guests," Aria remarked and immediately Annie knew she was speaking of her. Mira called Annie forward and she hesitated but could feel the painful glare of her Master without even lifting her gaze from the floor. Slowly she stepped closer, glancing up to see the scrutinizing look Aria had just given her.

"I suppose you could say I'm partial to this one. There's just something about her…I can't tell if it's her stupidity or her fight." Aria tilted Annie's chin up and then down, inspecting the child like she was some sort of livestock Aria was planning on investing in.

"Well how long have you had her?"

"Almost nine months," Aria raised a disbelieving brow as Mira shrugged. "I guess there's just something about my little Eleanor that keeps me from wanting to punish her fully. Could be my downfall," she cackled as Aria simply sat back.

Annie didn't understand what Mira meant by that at the time. The asari had punished Annie plenty and mercilessly. But it was years after, when she came in contact with slaves that had escaped that Annie understood. Her Master had allowed Annie to keep her sense of self. Mira called her by name – the majority of the time – and sometimes Annie felt like Mira treated her more like an apprentice than a slave. Though Annie couldn't say she was thanking her for what she'd done…gentle or not there were still things she refused to remember.

"Now, what brings you back here, Commander Shepard?" Aria asked as Annie settled on an empty part of the chair, resting back. Despite the setting it was nice to just take a seat and relax. She felt as if she shouldn't be so casual around this woman, but Arie seemed to respect it, as if it was refreshing to her.

"I'm looking for a doctor Mordin Solis," Aria chuckled at the name, leaning forward slightly.

"I always liked Mordin. He was just as likely to shoot you, as he was to heal you. You'll find that he's set up a clinic in the housing district. There's a plague that's been killing off everyone but humans it seems and supposedly he's found a cure. But that's just what my informants have told me." Annie gave a nod and stood from the seat, EDI already marking her destination on her omni-tool. "Oh and Shepard," Aria called as Annie turned back to her, "you might want to look into finding the vigilante known as Archangel."

"That's quite the name. Pray tell why I should care?"

"Because he's been able to hold off an army of mercenaries all by himself." Annie had to admit she was intrigued, finally turning herself to face Aria fully as the asari smirked. "The mercenary groups are taking anyone that can hold a gun at this point. It shouldn't be difficult for a woman of your caliber to get to him. Getting him out might be a different story."

Annie marked him down as a person of interest, choosing to go after him after she got the doctor. Something about this Archangel didn't sit right with her. Certainly holding off an army all by his lonesome was impressive but she had to wonder why he was in that position to begin with. A man with his skill had to realize that was a bad situation.


	6. Her Untold Story

Either way it was time to focus on the doctor. At least that's what Annie planned to do. A plague had been released in Omega, humans being the only species immune to the sickness as well as the most suspected for spreading it. Getting into the compound was easy enough; most people seemed to react kindly when approached by someone covered in military grade weapons. The local mercenary groups called the Blue Suns and the Blood Pack had also gone to war in this small area and on top of all of that, someone chose this time to have a "special" conversation.

"What was Aria talking about?" Miranda questioned as Annie finished sending a bullet into the center of a vorcha's skull. She sighed, taking cover as a wave of gunfire sounded overhead.

"Not exactly a good time, Miranda," Annie announced, curling back over to fire another headshot, mentally counting down the number of enemies remaining in their way.

"But your file said you were saved from Mindoir and it never mentioned Mira," she stressed as Annie threw a ball of flame from her hand. Oh yes…that was definitely one of her favorite upgrades.

"Ya…well maybe my file was wrong," the phrase seemed to startle Miranda, as if she'd never been given incorrect information before.

"But…but I put together your file…I…" Annie took a few more shots, the final enemy falling as we all stood from my cover.

"I'm sure you were very thorough in your data collecting," Annie breathed, picking up discarded thermal clips from dead vorcha weapons. "But, whether you like it or not, six years can be hidden from even the most astute eyes when you know the right people." Miranda blinked as Annie looked at the map on her omni-tool to check their location compared to where the clinic was.

"You can't just make six years disappear from the face of the earth. Not when it's something as important as that," Miranda exclaimed as Annie rolled her eyes, turning to look at the Cerberus operative.

"You can when the alternative is saying that the sole survivor wasn't rescued from the surface of Mindoir. Why don't you look up the Fiore family and then get back to me with your questions." Annie knew she would regret that, but it helped bring Miranda back to the mission at hand. Certainly the woman seemed very focused but also seemed very distracted when things she planned didn't go the way she wanted. Their relationship was going to be an interesting one.

After that, though, it was somewhat smooth sailing to the doctor, who was fresh off the boat for Annie's interpretation of the salarian stereotype. She couldn't help but smirk slightly at his outward train of thought, at how he jumped from conclusion to conclusion. Certainly wasn't anything she could follow but he looked like the right kind of man for the job of dissecting their Collector friends.

But, as usual, it wasn't that easy. The salarian wasn't leaving until this plague was cured, which Annie immediately hoped didn't involve her finding a cure. Fortunately, it didn't. The doctor had already fixed it all, he just needed to figure out a way to get his cure to the ventilation system…in the heart of vorcha territory. Catch equals found.

Annie agreed, not seeing any other option as they dragged themselves through more of Omega's streets. When she came here as a child she remembered thinking it all looked so amazing, so interesting. Her curiosity begged her to find out what was around a corner or down an alleyway. But now that she had that chance Annie found it all just looked dirty and sad. This wasn't a wonderland. It was a metal shack. People tried to make it seem like some beautiful world but in the end it was just the closest thing the galaxy's criminals could get to a haven.

They solved the problem and Doctor Mordin Solis agreed to come aboard the Normandy, leaving his clinic in the trusted hands of his assistant. Annie had to admit she didn't particularly care what happened, she just wanted to get the salarian moving. It was obvious he could easily hyper focus on things and it became almost impossible to pull him away.

Once back on the Normandy, Annie started her search for this Archangel once the doctor was settled in. But before they dove back into the dark alleyways of Omega, Annie ordered her crew to take some time to themselves. The issue with living in space was that there was no "day and night," the sky was always black and full of stars. The commander knew it was difficult to settle oneself into some sort of rhythm and knew that after an excursion such as that everyone needed some time to rest.

Of course…that didn't mean Annie had to.

Instead of getting needed sleep she spent her time down in the shuttle bay, working on her hand-to-hand with a few dummies. Annie didn't use it often but it was an activity for her that was similar to meditating. Though she could never bring herself to meditate. Sitting still and doing nothing for that long sounded like a waste of time in her opinion.

Unfortunately, Ms. Miranda interrupted Annie's "zen" training. She almost considered flat out ignoring her until the woman stood right next to Annie's dummy, gracefully dodging her spinning kick. "So…Shepard, I looked up that name you told me about," Annie sighed, rolling her sore shoulder as she reached for a towel and bottle of water. The other thing she loved about the Normandy was that she didn't feel like she needed to be in uniform all the time. Certainly when the commander was on the CIC she would dress appropriately, but down here Annie felt plenty comfortable in a tank top and army trousers. Plus it meant she wouldn't have to dirty her uniform.

"And tell me what you discovered," Annie muttered sarcastically, gulping down about half of the bottle.

"'Fiore, family of five. Lived in Mindoir during the attack. Both parents were counted among the dead on the planet's surface. The three children…unaccounted for." She stopped as she looked up at Annie but the blonde had found the top of her water bottle far more interesting. "I…I don't understand."

"What's the mother's full name?"

"Martha Louise…Shepard." Annie looked up at Miranda and gave a sad sigh. She wasn't going to drop this, not when she was only grasping at straws of information.

"The attack on Mindoir occurred six years earlier than stated. I was ten when they attacked but I was sixteen when I told my story. Like the rest of the children I was taken from Mindoir to be placed into the slave trade. We were separated by gender on the planet's surface…I never saw my brothers after that. From there the boys would be separated into the strong and weak ones, the girls were never separated further…due to masters normally not wanting anything different from us. I had been deemed unbroken when we were first to be traded and therefore wasn't for sale. All of us were marked on our backs…a collection of lines and dots to signify which company found us," Miranda looked at Annie startled, probably realizing what she had been looking at in the mirror before.

"But an asari found particular interest in me, buying me despite what I had been marked for. I suppose I was one of the lucky ones, if you could call that. Most girls spent their slavery being treated as animals…I watched Mira do it many times to the slaves she already owned. And the worst part was that they didn't know any better. But I was still a person to her, a much lesser person, but still a person. That wasn't saying I was given a merciful life when with her…a lot of the scars you removed weren't from fighting for the Alliance." Annie hopped up onto a nearby crate, kicking her feet out like a child on a swing set.

"When I was thirteen her ship was tagged by an Alliance cruiser and after some running we were eventually caught and boarded. Mira refused to go quietly and so the commanding officer," Annie chose to leave out Anderson's involvement, "shot her." She remembered that moment, watching Mira crumble to the ground as she gripped at her stomach. And Annie remembered the worst part of it was how she curled up around her Master to protect her. This woman had been nothing but monstrous to Annie and yet she was willing to lay her life down like she would for her own mother.

"I was taken from the ship and placed in a special facility attempting to readjust me to the normal world. It wasn't particularly difficult, considering my time spent as a slave…but I found myself resisting it, as if to spite them. The commanding officer that had saved me visited as much as he could. And then…as if a switch had come on I found myself no longer wishing to live in the past. I still don't know what did it, but the next time my officer visited I told him everything…and then begged him to erase it from the world." Annie sighed, wiping her brow and finishing off the last of the water as she looked over at Miranda. She half expected Miranda to be fiendishly writing this down or recording it, but instead she just stood there, leaning against some crates, and listened.

"He got in contact with some important people and organized it all. By the time I was eighteen I was a legal member of society and enrolled in the military as Annie Eleanor Shepard…formerly Eleanor Annie Fiore." Annie gave a shrug to signalize that she had finished the story. Miranda simply stood there and Annie found herself somewhat relieved. This woman wasn't even her friend and she just let her know the one thing Annie refused to ever share. Certainly there had been some prodding on Miranda's end, but she found herself needing to tell the brunette, to tell someone about everything that had happened. Liara only knew a little. Annie feared telling her more would result in the asari pitying her too much. But Annie supposed that was her fear with everyone.


	7. Finding Her Guardian Archangel

"Well…thank you for telling me Shepard," she said slowly, giving a nod of her head as Annie watched Miranda trying to process the information.

"You see what you're doing right now, trying to comprehend how to react to all of this? You don't know do you? Should you feel sorry for me or indifferent because that's what I want? What you're doing right now is the exact reason I changed my story. Take it as you will…it's my past and my past to deal with, nothing you or I can do now to change it." The woman seemed to give Annie an understanding smile as she headed back to her office.

Annie followed after, making her way up to her own quarters to shower. Every time she walked into that room, though, she found herself wishing it wasn't empty, wishing Liara could be right there with her. The woman had begged Annie for her own office after Saren's death and the commander happily agreed but they still shared a bed every night. Those were some of the sweetest nights Annie had ever had. Now she couldn't fight how much the empty half of the bed bothered her. Half the time she couldn't even look at Liara's picture without tears coming to her eyes. What if she'd changed too much? What if she'd moved on? The woman certainly deserved it...but Annie didn't know if she could take the pain of it all.

But as always she forced herself to focus, to ignore all of that and return to the mission as they headed back onto the Omega station. The Archangel was their next target, EDI giving them all the information the program could find on him. Annie couldn't say she really listened. In her experience there was a difference between what was on paper and what one saw with their own two eyes. Hell for all she knew this Archangel was a woman.

The only way to get near him, though, was through the mercenary groups attempting to kill him. The team signed themselves on, pretending to be one of the many free lancers who just knew how to shoot a gun (though it was obvious they were a little more prepared than just that).

A taxi took them to the little "safe house" the mercenaries had setup in some of the lower levels of the station. Annie had to admit it was amazing to see the odd amount of organization as well as all of the commotion one man had been able to cause. They were toured through, explained where Annie and her team came into the picture (as plain ole bait for the man's shooting skills) and immediately they set to work secretly sabotaging as much of the mercenaries operation as possible. If done right, it might hopefully mean an easier way out. But when face to face with the bridge that the Archangel used as a bottleneck…Annie realized "easier" wasn't exactly the best way to put it. It would be less suicidal, maybe, but not easier.

When our time arrived to make the run down the bridge Annie could only hope that Archangel would cue into their plan and not attempt to kill her. Fortunately, he did as they shot their way into the apartment and up to the second floor where he was safely perched. Being an expert in snipers herself, Annie could see why he was having such an easy time keeping them at bay, but he couldn't stay here forever.

"I appreciate you holding back some of your fire…" Annie trailed off as she watched him remove his helmet and she smiled wide like a child in a candy store.

"Ya, well I needed to make it believable and all of that," Garrus chuckled as Annie stepped up giving him a firm and friendly handshake.

"Garrus! What the hell are you doing here?" Just like when she ran into Tali she was ecstatic…but also a little worried, searching for how the turian had changed over the past two years.

"Beating up bad guys and taking names," he smirked, turning back towards the bridge as commotion sounded up. "And it seems like they finally noticed your little trick."


	8. Time to Catch Up

"I just needed them to get to you…but I have a feeling we've gotta finish dealing with them before we can waltz on out of here?" The turian chuckled and nodded, explaining the situation as Annie listened in. Garrus had been one of those interesting friendships that she'd made. He was a military friend, which she sometimes believed to be closer than the friendships she had with Ash or Tali. Both Garrus and Annie knew what lived in the dark corners of the galaxy, they'd seen them and killed them and seen what they could do to people who weren't ready. In a way they both were able to suffer together, share painful stories knowing the other had a similar understanding of it. And the best part was that Garrus did a fucking fantastic job at making her laugh.

After that, each mercenary group made their final push to get at the turian – Annie made a mental note to ask him how he got basically all of Omega to go after him. Eclipse were first, throwing their robots at the group like they cost a dime a dozen. Her treat to them had been reprogramming their heavy mech, so as the hunk of metal dropped down in the center of the bridge it turned back on its masters rather than the original targets.

The Blood Pack had tried to weasel their way through the tunnels under the apartment, a problem easily fixed by permanently closing off doors. Garrus was the one to fire the last bullet through the leader's head.

Finally came the Blue Suns, a group Annie was already decently familiar with that came with far more "military level" personnel and a gunship. The best she could do with that thing was to keep the mechanic from fully repairing it. She had the feeling that everything was going to go fine, that they'd finish it off and then walk casually back to the Normandy, but it didn't.

The gunship swooped in, surprising the group as they attempted to duck behind cover. Garrus irrationally fired at the ship, trying to make his way to the nearest cover just as the gunship unloaded. Annie watched in horror as her friend was slammed with bullets, his body jostled and tossed to the ground. "Garrus!" She screamed, pulling up her cloak to try and get to him as her teammates distracted the gunship.

Slowly she pulled him behind a couch, inspecting his body as the turian's eyes slowly opened. He chuckled, winced, and then coughed up blood that dripped from the corner of his mouth. "Was never good at the spraying and praying tactic," Annie gave him a sad smile, her hand gently brushing against the wound on the side of his face.

"Just stay with me, Garrus, we'll get you out of here. I promise."

"I know," he breathed, giving another wince as Annie did her best to take down the remaining blue suns as quickly as possible. When we did, Garrus was having a difficult time remaining conscious. Getting a half dead turian that everyone wanted fully dead through the streets of Omega wasn't the easiest. But eventually they got him onto the Normandy and in with Doctor Chakwas. Annie had full confidence in the woman's medical abilities but still couldn't fight the worry in her stomach as she idled her mind with useless paperwork. It wasn't like she was even part of the Alliance anymore but she guessed it was just habit.

Joker already had the Normandy heading to their next destination and they were two hours into the trip when a knock came from Annie's cabin door. "It's open," she called over her shoulder, finishing her train of thought as the doors opened and Garrus walked in.

"I've heard some women think scars are attractive," he smiled, as Annie looked up to see the bandages on the right side of his face. She smirked, closing her report as she stood from her seat.

"Sure, if you're hoping to attract a Krogan…of which I hear they don't react kindly to aliens wooing their women." Garrus laughed and then winced, reaching to up gently touch his bandages.

"Oof, don't make me laugh…I'm barely holding together as it is," he smirked as Annie chuckled, gesturing to the empty sofa in her cabin. He nodded as they took a seat, leaning back as Annie realized she didn't know the last time she had done this with a friend. It was nice.

"So what got you in that bit of trouble?" Annie asked as he sighed, shaking his head almost shamefully.

"After you…died, I went back to Palaven and was given my own team to lead. About six months in we were taken down from the inside, one of my own becoming a traitor. I tried to find him, get some sort of justice for my men and their families. But he just disappeared as if he was never there in the first place. From then…well oddly enough I tried to think of what you would do if you where in my shoes. I decided it was beating up bad guys and Omega is known for having the highest population of those." She nodded slowly, listening to him. He had changed, but it was more of that he'd accepted the somewhat contorted view he had for good and evil. While running after Saren Annie had done her best to convince him there was another way, a better way than shooting down everyone who littered or stole some baby's candy. And for a while it seemed like he agreed…but she couldn't blame his views changing after what had happened to him. To be betrayed, it had to make him feel vulnerable and violated. He trusted all of them only for one to violate that trust.

"What about you? What's with this 'working with Cerberus' thing?" He asked as Annie rolled her eyes, running her hand over her hair to smooth the fly-aways down.

"There is no 'working with Cerberus,'" she stressed, "all Cerberus is doing is giving me the resources to go after the Collectors, and in turn the Reapers. But to tell you the truth I'm damn glad we ran into you. I needed someone I could trust at my side for this."

"Have I been the only one you've seen?"

"No, I actually ran into Tali on the colony Freedom's Progress. She looks good, is even leading her own quarian squad." Garrus smiled at that, looking down as if to make a mental note. Annie smirked; those two kids did way too much tiptoeing around each other for their own good.

"What about Liara? I hear she has herself comfortably set up in Illium." Her shoulders slumped at the remark, the quickest way Annie could answer his question. Garrus leaned forward, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, whatever Cerberus might've said you should know that no one forgot about you. You were the glue that kept all us misfits together." He chuckled and Annie gave a sort of pity laugh, watching as Garrus stood from his place. "And if there's one person I know that would risk everything for you, then and now, it's Liara. Don't worry about it."

COMMENTS: I hope you guys don't get bored of this...because I reached 100 typed pages the other day and I'm barely through Mass Effect 3. It'll be long, looking at over 50 chapters, but hopefully you all will enjoy it!


	9. Its Final Resting Place

Annie told him she wouldn't, but he had to know she was lying. Then again she supposed that's what made him a good friend, knowing when to push and when to leave it. No one liked to be forced to change him or herself.

The next mission was to pick up some highly dangerous prisoner but first Miranda brought something particularly interesting to Annie's attention. Cerberus had located the crash site for the Normandy and neither Joker nor Annie could deny making a touch down. She could see that the pilot wanted to go, but walking around on normal well-taken-care-of platforms was difficult for him, much less a frozen planet. So he simply opted to keep in radio contact, tapping into the camera on the com-unit as she walked along the wreckage.

It was breathtaking to say the least. Annie had watched the Normandy in its final moments; it was still firmly cemented in her mind. And now here she was, lifting up debris in search of anything important people might want.

"Hey, Joker," she looked at the detached cockpit, "remember the day Alenko asked if he could try and fly her?" There was a spit of laughter from the other end as Annie leaned against a slightly bent metal column.

_Hell ya I do. Practically crashed her into a planet when only given the control of the throttle. Hey Shep,_ he added as she continued on, picking up lost dog tags when she could find them. Families deserved to have something to remember their fallen loved ones by. _Remember when Alenko tried to put the moves on you?_ Annie groaned and shook her head in somewhat shame.

"I spent so long trying to forget it. Then again I suppose that was my fault at the beginning, didn't think he would take things a certain way."

_Oh ya, not to mention mistiming an invite to your cabin._

"And this conversation is officially over," she heard a collection of laughter on the other end; suddenly aware she was on speakerphone.

_What happened exactly? All I heard was the extensive amount of apologies,_ Annie heard Garrus's question as she felt her cheeks in her helmet heat up.

"Look…what happened was that Alenko asked to talk about the past mission on Noveria. I told him to stop by my cabin whenever he was free. Only he chose to visit when I was…'consoling' Liara," She grumbled at the group as another wave of laughter erupted.

_Well that makes so much more sense now. He came waltzing into my office afterwards complaining about a stomach bug_, Dr. Chakwas commented as Annie sighed, shaking her head. What a lovely conversation.

"Yes, yes, very funny…but if you're all done laughing I'd love a ride out of here." The group seemed to disperse as she settled down on one of the detached wings. "Joker?"

_Ya?_

"Did you ever regret not going down with her?" There was a pause and for a moment Annie thought she'd lost the connection as she watched the shuttle settle down in front of her.

_The only thing I regret is being too stubborn to leave sooner,_ Annie smirked, nodding as if he could hear her head moving before stepping into the shuttle and making her way back up to the Normandy SR-2. Yes, it was a better ship overall but the old one held a special place in Annie's heart. That ship held so many memories, both good and bad.

They departed from the planet and made their way to the next system, which held a prison that supposedly housed the most dangerous criminals known to the galaxy. Annie had to admit she was curious to see how well their prison system worked for such dangerous people. But she supposed she would find out when they got there.

The dossier for the woman named her Jack. Annie couldn't tell if that was just some way for her to piss off her parents or a simple nickname. In the end she didn't care. Jack was known for her malicious personality and her immense biotic abilities. Annie could tell she would need to keep a close eye on her.

Their arrival wasn't the smoothest as guards insisted that they take Annie's weapons for the duration of her stay. She always hated when people asked for that. The straight answer was no, they were hers and they would stay that way. Annie had had one too many instances where she'd found herself underprepared because it was "protocol" to disarm her. If anything they should know that Annie had no intension of attacking them. The only reason for the weapons was what-if situations…but she supposed that's what they were trying to prepare for.

No more than five minutes into their "tour" – as the Warden called it – and while he was apparently preparing to release Jack, Annie found the facility turning on her. Apparently the Warden decided the price for Annie's capture was worth more than what Cerberus was paying for Jack's release. In a way Annie was almost flattered. But she kindly declined as the prison was placed on high alert, trying to take her out while she searched for Jack.

"So…remind me, Shepard, when was it you were considered a menace to the galaxy?" Garrus jeered as he sent a few solid shots in the center of a guard's chest.

"I think saving the Citadel and the Council made a few people salty," Annie finished off the guard with a shot to the heart before reloading.

"Right, watching someone save the galaxy does tend to get under my skin," he smirked.

"How are you two having this conversation right now?" Miranda panted as she fired down the hall the three of them were running.

"Because it's fun to watch Shepard miss," Garrus joked as they entered the empty control room. Annie simply chuckled, selecting the desired container and pressing the button to release Jack.

"And it's fun to watch Garrus dance around when I take his kill." Garrus gave a hard laugh as they watched Jack springing from her container, immediately destroying whatever guards or mechs were in her path. Impressive, certainly, but she was also like a candle lit at both ends and Annie hated to see what happened when she ran out of wax.

"Don't talk to me about dancing, Shepard," Garrus noted as they continued their fight through the prison. Funny, the Warden had made a big deal about how this station was inescapable but it was possible he leaned too heavily on the inmates not having any help, because as far as Annie could see this place was full of weaknesses. "Because talking about your dancing is just way too easy."

"That's because you haven't seen me actually dance. I save that for a select few."

"More like a select woman."

"Insert Liara's blushing," Annie chuckled, barely pulling back in time as a shot flew by her head.

"Not so anymore. She's not the little researcher anymore, Shepard," Garrus noted and Annie found the smile fading from her face. Even Garrus knew Liara had changed. Was it for the better? Annie could only hope.

The teasing seemed to end after that and they just focused on finishing their push through the prison till arriving back at the docking bay, the facility in shambles. Fortunately, after Annie got off this prison, what happened to the inmates would no longer be her problem. The ease with which she was able to think that unsettled her.

They had cornered the biotic, of who seemed to be having a bit of a hissy fit as Annie put her gun away in an attempt to show some sort of olive branch. But Jack was far too high strung as she swung a blue glowing punch at the commander's face. Her hand snapped up, gripping Jack's hand, as Annie's own started to glow with flames. "Stand down, Jack. Being my enemy is not a good idea."

"I second that, you wouldn't want to see her mean," Garrus scoffed as Miranda simply rolled her eyes. If only she understood why the two of them did it. The Joking made the fact that they'd just murdered dozens of people in cold blood a little less painful. Sure, they didn't give them much of a choice, but it still wasn't anything Annie looked forward to.

"You're with Cerberus, I'm not going with you even if it's the last thing I do." The woman spat as Annie's frown deepened. Jack was covered in ink, probably meant as "memories" or something and from what Annie could tell already was that she had a past with Cerberus that she had let fester and mold her. So Annie dropped her hand, watching as Jack continued her movement as Annie ducked down, throwing her off balance. Quickly Annie swung her leg around, smacking Jack's legs out from behind her and as she tried to catch herself Annie whipped her pistol from her hip. Tightly she pressed it against the back of Jack's shaved head as she sat there on her hands and knees.

"I promise you this: my team follows _my_ instructions, not Cerberus's. The only relations we have are the resources they give me." Annie pulled her gun back, returning to her team as Jack grumbled, picking her self slowly up and wiping the dust from her palms.

"Ya…well, just watch your little Cerberus cheerleader there. Wouldn't want my hand to slip if things go wrong."

"I don't go down that easily," Miranda scoffed as Jack chuckled, pushing past the group towards the Normandy.

"Oh please, I'm sure someone like you practically lives on your knees."


	10. The Firecracker and Battering Ram

That was the beginning of a fascinating relationship between Jack and Miranda. Annie had to admit she found it hilarious, the two women constantly at each other's throats. Sometimes she thought they liked the commotion they stirred up, both "on the verge" of using their biotic abilities and blowing up the Normandy. Despite how big of a game they both talked Annie knew it would never happen. While killing in cold blood wasn't a problem for Jack or Miranda, Annie could sense they saw something about this mission worth hanging around for. Which she supposed was nice.

In truth, though, Annie didn't really speak with Jack outside of missions; she simply couldn't contain her annoyance towards Jack when she did. Jack was so focused on what Cerberus did to her that it clearly made her the woman that she was, which was a woman incorrectly using her potential. The "bad girl" image was just a farce to show how truly terrified she was. Though if ever-mentioned Annie was sure Jack would attempt to show her otherwise.

Annie supposed that's why she found Jack walking in on her during some of her training. Apparently Jack hadn't appreciated Annie's put-down on the prison during their first meeting. Annie was doing her set number of pull-ups as Jack came around from behind her, hopping up onto a nearby crate as Annie dropped to the floor. "So is this just some sort of fancy ass training room specifically for the captain of the Normandy?" Annie rolled her eyes, rubbing at her sore shoulders as Jack stepped from her seat.

"It's available to anyone, Jack. Just helps me clear my head," Annie muttered as she scoffed, stepping ahead of Annie into the center of the room.

"Well come on then, let's use the space," Jack held up her fists as Annie sighed. This wasn't going to go well. "Or did the Cerberus cheerleader tell you not to?" She taunted and Annie found herself taking Jack's challenge, for the simple reason of officially putting her in her place.

"Alright, first to get the other on their back wins," Annie stated, holding up her fists as Jack smirked. Instantly she charged the commander, an attack Annie expected considering her aggressive nature. Annie sidestepped, grabbing Jack's shoulder to use as a pivot point but she was quick to react. Jack twisted away, pulling a punch into Annie's right cheek with enough force to break the skin. It stung and Jack chuckled as Annie wiped at some of the blood.

"Looks like the Cerberus captain isn't so perfect after all." Annie growled, Jack could call Miranda every Cerberus name in the book, but Annie refused to be placed in that category. She swung back, sending punch after punch as Jack blocked and backed away to try and return with some sort of attack.

"My name is Commander Annie Shepard of the N7 unit, captain of the Normandy. The Alliance holds my loyalty, as does the safety of the galaxy. The only fucking reason Cerberus is even related to me is because they spent trillions of credits bringing me back from the dead. And then they spent several more trillions reconstructing my ship in hopes that I would save the galaxy once again." Jack's back hit a metal pillar as she gave a grunt from the force as Annie stopped, panting, some sweat dripping into her cut as it stung. She gave a heavy swing at Jack's face, breaking her lip open as she spit blood onto the floor.

"Ya, well it all smells like bullshit to me," she snapped, kicking Annie in the center of her chest to push her back as Jack readied her self again.

"Bullshit? I lost two fucking years of my life; I'm still trying to catch up, to find out what I lost. You have no idea what that's like because rather than facing your fears you just shoot them in the back and run away."

"Well it's kept me alive," Jack sneered, rolling away from a kick as she slammed her boot into Annie's back, causing her to stumble forward. "You have no idea what Cerberus did to me."

"Oh?" Annie turned around as Jack readied her self for an attack, seemingly learning that aggressive force wasn't getting her anywhere. "Did they kill your parents in front of your eyes? Did they tear you away from your siblings and treat you like an animal going to the slaughter? Did they beat you every time you fought back and then beat you some more every time you cried? Did they burn their mark into your skin so that you always knew you belonged to them? Did they make you watch every time they murdered someone like you?" Jack blinked, watching, as Annie grew angrier and angrier, hot tears dripping down her cheeks.

"I…" she started as Annie hand sprung forward, her legs looping over Jack's shoulders and slamming her into the ground to knock the wind out of her. Annie shifted, pinning Jack's arms down with her knees as Annie straddled the biotic's shoulders.

"Cerberus works for me. And rather than letting others direct my life, I took it and made it my own. Don't you _ever_ tell me that I should pity you and don't you _ever_ tell me that I let someone hold my hand just because of where I am today. Read a fucking news report once in a while, maybe you'll learn something," Annie hissed before stepping off of Jack and heading to the elevator.

Annie didn't know what Jack did after that but she made an obvious job at avoiding the commander, though she assumed Jack would ask for her help at some point. Being on a Cerberus ship Jack had been able to get her hands on classified files that Annie was sure had to do with that weird facility she'd been imprisoned in as a child. If Jack planned to do anything about it while on Annie's ship, she'd have to run it by Annie first. **

But they had to move onto the next person on their list, a krogan named Okeer. Annie had had mixed feelings about krogans. The majority that she met was far too focused on the genocide – that occurred almost a thousand years ago –to seem much like the terrifying force they were supposed to be. Wrex, though, he'd been different, he'd been proactive. But she guessed the main reason Annie was even retrieving Okeer was more for his fighting abilities than his ideals.

Of course, though, when they arrived things weren't completely going as planned and they were forced to fight through an army of Blue Suns and "failed krogan." These creatures had apparently been test tube creations of Okeer's. They were his attempt to cure the genophage and seemed to be unable to reach his high standards. Then again, it was probably better for the world to have a handful of "pure krogans" versus an army of dangerous and mindless ones.

By the time they finally reached Okeer, though, the alien had initiated some sort of emergency protocol, flooding the room with poisonous gas before they could get to him. He left nothing more than a video describing the giant tube with a single krogan inside. Okeer referred to the grunt as a perfect krogan, but just seeing it in a test tube made Annie nervous. No one knew what he would be like mentally when he got out, not even Okeer.

"There's too many unknowns to just wake him up," Miranda explained as Annie looked at the massive thing, which had now been transferred to the cargo bay of the Normandy.

"Doesn't that interest you?" Annie blinked as she realized she sounded surprisingly like Liara just then. Miranda rolled her eyes.

"Krogan fight best in close quarters…it might not be the smartest to let him go in such an enclosed space," Miranda explained as Annie pulled her fingers from her chin.

"Then I suggest you step back," she smirked, pressing the necessary commands into the console as the water quickly drained from the tube and the glass slid open. Tensing the women watched as the krogan fell to his knees, coughing the water from his lungs as he slowly started to take in his bearings, Miranda had moved to a position much closer to the door.

Suddenly he charged, grabbing Annie like a twig and slamming her against the wall, his forearm tight against her windpipe. "I require a name," he growled as Annie gripped his arm, ensuring it didn't push down too far. Then again, from what she knew about krogan if he wanted to kill her he simply would have.

"Commander Shepard, captain of this ship and I suggest you back down before you get hurt," Annie snapped. Krogan didn't tend to respond well to soft words or pleading. If you wanted something from them then you were to treat them as the brutes they were.

"Not your name, mine. Okeer's words are hollow, his imprint was lost on this…this perfect krogan, this 'grunt.'" He paused as Annie watched the cogs in his head turn, "Grunt. Yes. I am Grunt."

"Wouldn't you want something more fitting to a perfect krogan? Like Legacy or Okeer?"

"No," he snorted, "Grunt is short and meaningless. Now," she felt the pressure from his arm increase, seeing Miranda ready to call for help in the corner. Annie gave her a quick wave of her hand to show she could handle this. At least she hoped. "You are a leader but I do not follow one whose enemies are not worthy."

"I assure you," Annie grunted, "Our enemies are worthy." Grunt seemed pleased, backing off to let me drop to the floor as she gave a few coughs, the air slowly returned to her lungs. "We could use the help of someone with your skills. But don't think I won't hesitate if you step out of line." At that Grunt gave a loud laugh, reminding her very much of Wrex.

"Offer one hand and arm the other. Very well, Shepard, I will follow you. And when I find a clan…a place where I belong I will feel honored to pit them against you." Annie smirked, offering her hand and gripping his forearm as he did the same to her before nodding and leaving the cargo bay. Miranda walked silently next to Annie till the two entered the elevator, as if worried Grunt might hear.

"That…was impressive. How did you know to do that?"

"I found myself in the same sort of situation with Wrex on Virmire," Annie explained, stepping from the elevator onto the CIC. "You have to appeal to their violent and honorable side, to point out that doing one thing would make them look like a turian or salarian or whatever. They're brutes, so treat them as such."


	11. Opening Her Eyes

From there she was suddenly notified of the approaching Collector attack on a newly established human colony, Horizon. Conveniently it turned out to be the colony Ash was stationed on. Annie was finding all of these "convenient run-ins" to be a bit more than convenient but she was tired of pointing it out to the Illusive Man. It was clear what he thought of her. She was just an object to him. He used the polite term of "symbol" but no matter how you put it she was an object. Hell, that was the main reason she had became a marine so she wouldn't be just some soldier that they would throw into the battlefield when things got tough. Becoming a Spectre was simply icing on the cake. But Annie supposed the Illusive Man believed he had some sort of hold over her, it's how most people like him lived.

Either way she wasn't about to turn down a chance to get a jump on the Collectors as well as help out an old friend. Funny enough, though, Annie was a little nervous. Ash and she had a very odd relationship, one Annie sometimes didn't even understand. With others, like Garrus and Tali, they were on similar ground on most topics, but it was the opposite for Ash. The pair were always butting heads but seemed to find a way to fix it all with a beer and a laugh. Annie just wasn't sure if that would cut it for disappearing for two years.

They touched down at one end of the colony, the salarian doctor finding a way to trick the Collectors swarm into not seeing them as "sheep for the slaughter." Sadly that was only one obstacle as the team quickly ran into their first real fight with the brutes. They looked somewhat familiar but Annie couldn't exactly put her finger on it. It had something to do with their unsettling rows of glowing eyes and insect-like arms. Even more terrifying was that their "leader" or whatever could mentally take over their minds and fight their enemy from a distance.

Either way Annie chose not to question and instead focused on getting to the turret controls for the colony. They were going to be the only thing that saved this place. But she couldn't help but feel a little…off. All of this was too familiar to her and brought back too many hard memories. Every colonist in stasis that they passed looked like an old scene that played out in her head.

They were able to find some sort of a safe haven before hitting the main group and Annie unconsciously slumped to the ground. Her head was pounding, visions painfully flashing through her thoughts. She had watched through the crack in the door as the slavers had forced their way into her home. Watched as her mother begged them to take her and leave. Watched as she was brought to her knees as a pair of slavers exposed Annie's and her brother's hiding place and dragged the three children out.

_Elle!_

"Shepard?" Garrus questioned, resting his hand on Annie's shoulder as she flinched and looked up at him with a tired smile.

"Sorry, was just taking a moment there."

"I can smell when your feeding me bullshit from a mile away there, Shep," he held out a hand to her as she took it with a small chuckle.

"That's why I love ya, Garrus, cause you're the best at taking it." The turian smiled, clapping Annie on the back and handing her back her abandoned pistol.

"That's what friends are for."

From there they pushed forward, finally able to turn on the colony's defense systems and send the Collectors limping back to space. Annie could only wonder what might've happened if she'd had been able to do that on Mindoir. Then again…it would never make up for the people already taken and already dead. A fact one of the saved colonists quickly stated as he came out of hiding.

"You have to go after them!" He commanded as Annie frowned.

"I will…but for right now they've gotten away. There's nothing we can do about it."

"Bullshit, you Alliance type are all the same."

"Hey," she snapped as he pushed past me, Annie grabbed his arm tightly. "I give you my word, even if we can't get your people back we will destroy those monsters that took them." He scoffed, yanking his arm back.

"That's a promise you shouldn't take lightly," Annie heard someone add which only seemed to make the man angrier as he stormed off muttering about being done with all military people. Annie then turned, smiling at her old friend.

"Ash!" She exclaimed as Ashley quickly offered a simple hand and Annie hesitated for a moment. Her smile faltered but she took the handshake, despite how uncomfortable it was. "It's great to see you. What have you been up to?"

"That's it?" Ash's welcoming expression quickly disappeared, as did Annie's smile. "You disappear for two years and you come back pretending like nothing happened? I would have died for you, Commander!" She poked at Annie's chest as Annie blinked, "We all would have. You were more than just a commander to us, Shepard. And now I come to hear that you're not only alive but with Cerberus?"

"Ash…" a knot was suddenly caught in Annie's throat. "I was in a coma for the majority of those two years. I wanted to contact you…all of you but they said you were on a mission. I…I'm sorry."

"Ya, sure. Look, at least I know where my loyalties reside." Annie gritted her teeth, looking towards the ground only to hear Garrus behind her.

"That's not fair, Ash. You know where Shepard's loyalty lies. We're trying to stop the Collectors, just like the Alliance." Ashley scoffed at it, immediately waving off any possibility of that being true. She was always incredibly stubborn.

"Whatever excuses you have I don't care. Just know things changed more than you might've hoped, Commander." At that she turned on her heels and left. Annie thought about calling after her but realized she had nothing more to say. Ashley had been the first to really vocalize how she felt about Annie's death and she supposed she wasn't prepared for it. It made her wonder where Garrus stood on the matter, or Tali.

"Joker, send us a shuttle for pick up," Annie muttered through her com-unit, the trip back to the ship being a quiet one. She wasn't looking forward to the discussion with the Illusive Man. There were too many things still rolling around in her brain. She wished she could just sit down and work through them all but Annie felt like she was trying to put together a puzzle without the picture. Nothing seemed to make sense.

"I will need you and your team at their best when you head through the Omega 4 Relay. Which will mean putting past relationships behind you. Is that going to be a problem?" Annie tuned into the conversation with a frown, knowing exactly whom he was speaking of.

"That's none of your damn business." Calmly he tapped the ash from the end of his cigarette.

"If it's going to jeopardize our mission I will certainly make it my business. Are we clear?" Without a response Annie ended the call, her temper unable to stop herself.

"Crystal."


	12. Keeping Her Friends Close

Annie made their next destination to a system on the edge of the galaxy. Apparently the Illusive Man had seen the obvious advantage in Tali's help and at this point Annie needed another friend at her side. After hearing Ash's angry opinion Annie found herself needing a little support that she hoped to get from the quarian. Tali was apparently busy with helping her people, but then again she always was and Annie just hoped that Tali would agree to tag along with her at least one more time.

They touched down on Heastrom, a planet with little atmosphere and therefor very deadly solar radiation. Garrus made a cheesy comment about how even he would need sunscreen and Annie surprisingly found Miranda cracking a smile. The Cerberus operative even mumbled a small retort about getting her summer tan. It was nice to see the woman relaxing some. When going into a suicide mission it was never good to do it without friends.

Their trip wasn't without issue, as it never is. Geth hadn't taken too kindly to quarians invading one of their planets and had seemingly trapped Tali and massacred the majority of her unit. It was sad to see but also a sight Annie had seen far too much. Part of being a soldier was watching friends die. Most might consider it smarter to remain aloof and to avoid the pain of it all…but it was somewhat impossible. There was a special bond two soldiers going to war shared. They both fought for their people and they both were willing to die for it. Sharing that was what kept some of them sane at times.

Either way they pushed through, only able to keep one of Tali's teammates alive before finally reaching Annie's old friend. Tali had apparently been sent here to find some Intel on the systems sun. Whatever it was it was clear that she didn't fully believe the information was worth the lives lost.

She sent the data to the fleet and agreed to join the Normandy, making her position on Cerberus very clear as she explained how she'd hand Annie the grenade to blow up the place. It was refreshing as was the amusing conversations between Garrus and Tali in their down time. It didn't happen often but the friends always tried to find a couple minutes to sit down and play a game of cards or two. At first it just started out as the three of them before Grunt and Jacob drifted in, forcing Tali and Garrus to sit next to each other. Kasumi would pop in every so often to help someone cheat before getting herself a drink at the bar. On the _rare _occasions even Miranda would bless the team with her presence, leaning against the doorframe and watching the game over Annie's shoulder. She was pretty sure Miranda really just came there for the atmosphere, the jokes, and the friendly competition. Half the time it would turn into some sort of "dare" poker, with every lost hand resulting in a horrible dare. Each time Annie would offer Miranda a seat but she always denied, probably realizing it might be intruding too much on her job here. One day. Maybe.

The next destination was Illium, an asari planet filled with businessmen. And it was another place Annie had never been. But it sounded a lot like Noveria but with less snow and far more cutthroat. All she really cared about, though, was a particular asari that lived there. Liara apparently had a comfortable office job in the city and might know something about two team members that Annie was trying to recruit. She honestly didn't care about what Liara knew…Annie just needed to see her.

Annie attempted to ignore the somewhat uneasiness from Garrus and Tali when she told them where they were going. It was like they knew something Annie didn't…or they just felt as uneasy as she did. After all this would be the first time she would have seen Liara in over two years. What should Annie be prepared for? That was a question she was most concerned about.

Docking at one of the stations they were welcomed by some sort of asari consort. "Welcome Commander Shepard, your fees have been paid for." Annie raised a curious brow, glancing back at Miranda who gave a shrug, acknowledging she wasn't part of it. The woman simply chuckled; an action Annie found surprisingly annoying, probably because it was just wasting her time. "By Liara T'Soni, she asked that you visit her office when you have the chance. It looks over the trading floor." Annie gave a nod and tried her best not to rush off.

Without realizing it she started scrutinizing her appearance, wishing she wasn't decked in her armor or weapons for their first meeting in two years. Then again Annie wished their first meeting didn't revolve around her mission. Annie wished they could just have time to sit down to dinner or something, _anything_, other than this.


	13. Unexpected Confession

After shimmying through the trade floor and climbing a set of stairs another well-mannered asari assistant – who spoke highly about Liara – welcomed us. Annie tried her best not to dismiss her with an obvious "I know" as she informed them that Liara was just finishing up a meeting. A meeting? That was certainly different than what I last saw of Liara. The woman had always enjoyed spending her time to herself, finding the needed information on her own rather than holding "meetings" with others. It made Annie even more nervous as the doors opened to her lover.

In a way Annie thought the two years might affect the way she saw her but after all this time Liara still took Annie's breath away. She was a few inches shorter than Annie but thin and far fitter than she remembered. Hell, even her ass seemed to have a little more perkiness to it. Liara's skin was some of the purest blue Annie had ever seen on an asari, the only possible break in it being the freckles that were scattered across her face. Liara would always complain about it, about the "normalness of it" but Annie found them amazingly beautiful.

Liara was facing away from the group, speaking to a hologram – or more of threatening from the sounds of it. "Have you ever experienced the wrath of an asari commando unit before? Few humans have. I suggest you rethink your decision the next time we speak." And with that the call was ended. Annie never remembered her being so ruthless. She'd always been coy with most encounters, certainly after being around the great Commander Shepard a while she'd come out of her shell some but not this much. What had changed? What had Annie missed?

The asari turned and for the first time in two years their eyes met. Annie found her body melting under Liara's gaze, a stupid smile pulling on her face. But Liara didn't seem to meet Annie with the same emotions, her features looking a little more stiff and forced. "Annie," she sighed as the blonde stepped up to her, taking her hands, feeling the softness of her fingers before leaning forwards. She expected the softness of Liara's lips against hers but found the slightly cool texture of her cheek as she turned her head to the side. Liara's blue eyes were unable to look at Annie as her stomach twisted. What was this?

"My sources said you were alive but I didn't believe them," she continued, ignoring the awkwardness of the kiss as she took a seat at her desk, Annie sat down across from her.

"You have sources now?"

"Sources, intel, even a little hired muscle when the time calls for it. But here you are, running and gunning for the Collectors with Cerberus." Her tone surprised Annie, unsettled her even. Liara was only this brash when she was upset but unlike before Annie couldn't sense what it was. Since their first night together she had found herself more mentally connected with Liara. She was like an open book as Annie was for her. But now…now it was just like the first time Annie met her. Everything was dark.

"Well if you know that, then you know I could use your help, Liara. Come with me back on the Normandy." Liara's features quickly shifted, a frown pulling on her lips.

"You know I can't do that, Annie. I can't just drop everything and leave with you…not anymore." Annie felt like her stomach had knotted itself four times over as she swallowed uneasily.

"Is there something wrong? Do you need my help?"

"No…just debts to repay, things to look into. Actually," she pulled up something on her computer, "I need someone with hacking expertise to get some information for me, someone I can trust." Hacking? It was almost degrading what she was asking of Annie. No, it _was_ degrading. But if Liara needed it done Annie would do it…after a few questions first.

"What's this all about, Liara? Can't you just talk to me?" Liara took in a shaky breath.

"I want to, Annie…I do. But, I just can't, you have to trust me on this." Annie did, if there was anything still between them…it was trust. So she did as Liara asked, hacking a few terminals and finding out Liara's own secretary was funneling information about Liara to the Shadow Broker. All of it made Annie wonder what Liara had done to get involved with the man.

"Why are you involved with the Shadow Broker? Is he after you?" Liara seemed to give a bit of a prideful smirk and a shake of her head.

"I'm more of going after him. We crossed paths not long after you…disappeared and since then I've been doing everything I can to take him down." Her attitude quickly changed to anger and Annie could tell there was more to this situation than Liara was leading on.

"I've never seen you want to execute someone in cold blood before, Liara…what did he do to you?" Liara paused, as if to collect her thoughts, her hand reaching up to her chest, to toy with something that wasn't there. Annie looked for the necklace they shared but found nothing and as Liara noticed her staring she quickly lowered her hand into her lap.

"He took a friend of mine who I owe my life to. I can't let him get away with it. The Shadow Broker will pay," there was venom in her words, an anger and sadness Annie had never seen in the woman.

"Well is there any other way I can help? I could help you go after him."

"No, Annie. This isn't something you can just point a gun and fire at…it requires a special touch."

"One I don't have?" Annie's voice was shaky as Liara looked away from her, refusing to answer. Annie sighed, trying to swallow the pained knot in her throat, "Well…just let me know if there's anything else I can do."

"Thank you, I will. But is there anything else I can help you with?" Annie asked her several questions about the two new teammates that she would be able to find on Illium, Samara and Thane. Samara ended up being an asari justicar, a very special rank of asari known for their impressive biotic abilities. Thane was an assassin that was simply here for one of his targets. Annie was impressed with Liara's knowledge, but then again she had always been good at digging.

"I have a question…" the commander started, using the pause to try and help Liara prepare for the question, "What else happened between you and the Shadow Broker? It can't just be about them taking your friend." Liara's gaze turned to her lap, trying to compose herself before looking up.

"Did…did Cerberus ever tell you how they got your body?" Annie thought about it only to realize that she didn't, or more that she'd been too busy to ask. "I gave you to them because they told me they could reconstruct you. In order to do that I had to steal you from the Shadow Broker because he was going to sell your body to the Collectors."

"Why keep this from me?" Annie's body tensed from a surprising eruption of anger.

"Because I screwed it up, Annie. I barely got out of there with my life. And…and I knew Cerberus would use you for their own business. And I let it happen. Because I couldn't let you go. I'm sorry." The words stung, as did the tears that glazed over in Annie's eyes. In a way she was relieved because Liara had told her exactly what she needed to hear. What Annie had doubted all this time. Liara hadn't forgotten about her…none of them did.

Annie leaned forward to rest her hand against Liara's, "Don't be. I'm glad you did what you did, honestly." Liara smiled, looking down at their touching hands and stretching her thumb to run tenderly against Annie's.

"Well that's why I have to go after him. For my friend, for you, and to figure out whatever he is doing with the Collectors." Annie nodded before pulling back and bringing up her omni-tool. Cerberus had given her files concerning some interesting information on the Shadow Broker but she had never seen any reason to use them. The Shadow Broker was not her main mission but maybe it would help Liara and if he was working with the Collectors then Annie had to stop him.

"I came upon some of this information concerning the Shadow Broker that you might find interesting," Annie transferred it to Liara's computer and she took a moment to look over it, her features quickly changing from serious to amazed.

"This…this might have been exactly what I need. Annie I have to go speak with someone about this. Come and meet me in my apartment later today and we can go over more of the information." She stood suddenly, pulling something from her desk that jingled and rattled but Annie couldn't get a good view of it before she headed from her office.


	14. Her Resurrected Nightmare

Annie had a few small things to finish up on the trading floor before they headed over to Liara's apartment. Admittedly she was excited and partially annoyed that she had to cart Miranda and Garrus with her. Of course Annie knew better than anyone that when Liara had a mission in mind she wasn't very good at being distracted from it. So Annie supposed she shouldn't expect anything to happen, but it still would be nice to have some time alone with the asari.

Only when they entered the apartment the police had sealed it off, speaking about shots being fired. "What happened here?"

"Sorry ma'am this place is closed off to civilians. I'm gonna have to ask you to step back."

"Do I look like a civilian to you? What happened here?" Annie restated again, her patience already thin.

"Someone tried to kill your friend, _Commander Shepard_." The distant voice sent a shiver down Annie's spine as she looked towards the top of the stairs. "You and your men can leave, officer." The leading officer looked annoyed but called her men and left anyway as the voice continued to descend the stairs. "Well hasn't it been a while. How long now? Eleven, twelve years?" Annie's eyes fell on a memory as the asari finished her entrance, looking at the Spectre with those predatory eyes Annie was so familiar with.

"Mira…a surprise to see you here." The asari chuckled, glancing at her fingernails as she started to slowly circle Annie. Nothing about her had changed.

"I'm sure. The last time you saw me I was on the floor supposedly dead. Sadly, your Alliance savior was a lousy shot. And if we're being technical Mira T'Leek is dead. It's Tela Vasir now. A well respected Spectre for the council. But enough about me look at you. You've grown quite nicely," she purred as Annie grimaced and leaned away.

"What are you doing here? What happened to Liara?"

"Liara? My, my, look who's found another favorite. Seems you never lost the taste for asari skin," Mira teased as Annie sneered. "But I have no idea where your little girlfriend is. Apparently someone was trying to take her out, though."

"I had shared some information about the Shadow Broker with her, we were going to discuss our next steps this evening," Annie explained, finding herself unable to control her tongue. It had been over a decade and yet she could still feel this woman creeping into her mind in the way that Mira looked at Annie and swayed her hips. Certainly as a child Annie had considered her beautiful but it had nothing to do with how she felt for Liara, and now all she saw was a monster. But Mira was a monster that still had some sort of hold on Annie's mind.

"The Shadow Broker? Well that's a dangerous enemy to have."

"Well she would've left me a message somewhere," Mira smirked and gestured to the apartment.

"I'm sure you two will be getting familiar with the place soon enough. Take a look around, see what you find." Annie started to look around before pausing at one of her many cases. Most of them held some sort of Prothean artifact but this one was special…it held her old armor. She reached up, touching the glass as Annie looked at the burnt material, trying to imagine what it might've been like to find her body in such a state. It wasn't easy.

"Well someone is certainly a fan of you," Mira smirked over Annie's shoulder as her hand curled into a fist.

"I'm sure you have the same case," the asari chuckled before continuing her separate search through the place. Annie didn't like that she was here, something about it didn't sit right. It was all just too convenient. That word was coming up far too often in her vocabulary than Annie cared to count.

They continued the search, discovering Liara had left a few things keyed specifically to my genetic ID and soon enough they discovered where Liara had been heading after the attack. Mira drove Annie and her team over to the Dracon Trading Center and Annie found it all seeming a little too calm. Then again she lived her life making sure that civilians could keep there's. For all she knew this wasn't going to take more than a ride up the elevator. Of course, that's not how things tended to work around Commander Shepard.

An explosion came from the third floor and traveled downwards, blowing out the front door and slamming them back. Annie grunted but was fine, her shields holding up as she pulled herself to her feet, helping Garrus and Miranda up as well. Mira oddly remained focused on the third floor as Annie stepped up next to her. "They just blew up the third floor to ensure your girlfriend was dead. You really want to risk it?" Annie pulled her pistol from her hip; Liara wasn't that easy to take out, she knew she would be fine.

"Just take your car to the top floors and head down, I'll start from the bottom and move up." Mira smirked but nodded, surprisingly following her "protégé's" instructions as she rose into the air. They ran into a few of the Shadow Broker's personal guard but nothing more as they climbed up to where Liara was supposed to be. Only when they came into the office all they found was a dead guard, a salarian, and Mira talking about how she'd just been too late.

"Did you find your friend's body?" She asked casually as the question took a moment to register.

"You mean this body?" Liara answered promptly and Annie found her chest swelling, glad to see she was all right…although the fact that she was holding up a gun at Mira was interesting.

"Liara, this is Vasir-"

"I know who she is. Tela Vasir, also known as Mira T'Leek. I've been meaning to meet with you." Mira smirked and gave a low bow of her head.

"I'm honored to know I was spoken so highly of. Now…why don't you put that gun down before you hurt yourself?" Instead Liara only held it tighter.

"I doubled back after the attack, I watched you break into my apartment!" It was then that that nervous churn in the pit of Annie's stomach made sense. She pulled her pistol from her holster and aimed it at Mira.

"Come now, Eleanor, think of all that we've been through together. Are you really going to trust her word over mine?" Annie gritted her teeth together, cocking the gun as a warning.

"The person you're speaking to died twelve years ago."


	15. Overcoming Her Nightmare

"Well…isn't that a shame," she smirked, her body enveloped in a blue glow as she pushed her hands forward. Immediately the glass window behind her shattered and the shards flew towards them. Annie turned away only for Liara to pull up a biotic barrier that sent the glass harmlessly flying off. Mira growled and Annie took that moment to charge her. Annie's arms wrapped firmly around Mira's waist and propelled the two of them out the broken window.

The Master and Apprentice tussled in the air but she found a way to get on top and with her biotic powers pushed her feet against Annie's chest. Her body was shot to the ground with what would've been the same speed if she had fallen from five stories rather than two. Annie coughed, trying to get the air back into her lungs as she watched Mira delicately land several yards from Annie and then run off. Liara landed behind her and Annie thought she might stop and help her up, or at least look back to make sure Annie was all right but instead Liara bolted after the asari without a second glance. Anger boiled in Annie's belly but she ignored it as more of the Shadow Broker's goons poured into the room. The discussion she wanted to have with Liara would have to happen at a later time.

The team fought their way out of the building only to watch as Liara shot at Mira's escaping car. "Come on," she called, getting into a taxi as Annie settled in next to her.

"I'm fine by the way," the blonde grumbled but Liara was too focused to answer, or probably even hear for that matter. From there it was a car chase that ended in Mira crashing into the side of an asari hotel. Liara was insistent on touching down and in order to get the information chip Mira had stolen but Annie had to admit she was getting a little tired of the woman's constant ordering.

But per usual she did as told, fighting their way through the hotel until they came upon a dinner party Mira had invaded. Annie watched as she pulled a woman to the side, her gun raised as she pressed the pistol to the woman's temple. "Please…I have a son, don't kill me."

"A son? Did you hear that, _Eleanor_? She has a son. I hear losing a parent can be scaring on a child. What do you think?" Annie gritted her teeth together, focusing on the hostage rather than her desire to blow Mira's head off of her shoulders.

"You're done, Mira. You think I didn't learn anything from you? I'm the great Commander Shepard; I've killed thousands of civilians to get what I want. It's how you taught me, so do you think this one woman is going to stop me?" Mira winced and Annie noted blood practically pouring from a wound in her stomach, how ironic.

"You're bluffing. You never had the stomach for it," she spat pointing the gun at Annie instead of the hostage as Annie smirked, glancing at Liara in the corner of her eye before back at Mira.

"No, I just always found a better way. Now Liara!" Annie shouted as Liara pulled a table from behind Mira with her biotic abilities so it smacked into the back of the asari, knocking her off balance. Running up, Annie pulled the hostage away and told her to run to safety as she turned back to Mira.

Despite being injured the woman was still quick, immediately jumping up and slamming her heel into the side of Annie's head. For a moment she was dazed, but forced her head to focus as Annie defended several of Mira's punches, landing a few of her own in here and there. Several waves of guards came in but were mostly dealt with by Garrus and Liara as Mira and Annie continued to fight.

Annie watched as Mira favored one side to shield her injury and then took advantage of it. She threw a punch and Annie sidestepped, grabbing Mira's arm to pull her closer and slam her fist into her stomach. Mira grunted, spitting blood as she stumbled away, her back hitting a wall as her legs collapsed beneath her. She smirked as Annie knelt down in front of Mira, "I knew you'd be a special one. Guess I went a little too easy on you, though," she winced as Annie frowned.

"You had nothing to do with what I became," Annie sneered, grabbing the disk that she'd stolen as Mira gave a pain-filled laugh.

"I had everything to do with it. Why do you think you can take such a beating without feeling discouraged? Why are you able to take out an army of people without a moments remorse? Because I taught you to. Sure, you've got a weakness for civilians, but the moment they fire a gun at you they might as well be a sack of meat. You turned into exactly what I wanted. I _made_ you," she stressed before the last breath of life escaped her lips.

Annie knelt there, looking at Mira's dead body, expecting some sort of lifting sensation now that she was officially dead but Annie didn't. Instead Mira made her wonder more, think more about what the asari had said and what Annie had done to get to this point in her life. Maybe…maybe she was right.

But Annie chose to ignore it for now; she needed to focus on the Shadow Broker. Though…there were a few things she wanted to ask Liara about first. "We've got the coordinates to the Shadow Broker's base, with the Normandy's stealth drive we should be able to get in there undetected. Plus, his guard is still shooting through Illium so they wont even notice us leaving."

"That's a little cold, don't you think?"

"Maybe…but it has to be done. I put Seket in harms way to get the data I needed. And I'd do it again."

"What the hell happened to you? Since when were you so easily able to start putting innocent people's lives at risk? I thought you knew better."

"Look, let's not talk about this now…" she started to walk off but Annie refused to drop the topic as she grabbed for Liara's arm.

"No, we'll be jumping a few light years. We have time to talk."

"About what?"

"Us."

"Look, I'm glad to see you and all…"

"What? You need me to hack more terminals for you?"

"That's not fair, you were dead!" Her chin quivered and before Annie's anger might've melted away but she couldn't succumb to Liara's tears this time…she just couldn't.

"I came back!" Annie could feel her own tears screaming to fall over her lids.

"You can't just say that and think it'll be alright. You can't just ignore two years of mourning, Annie! When I sent you off to Cerberus it was like I was burying you! I…" she stopped and took a deep breath, "I can't get into this right now. Let's just get to the base and deal with things after." Annie wanted to make her stop, to make Liara finish what she was going to say, but she found herself paralyzed by Liara's words.

When they returned to the Normandy it was a decently quiet trip, except for the small amount of anger Annie put out on the poor fish tank. Her hand had been cut and she could see Liara eying the bandages on it as the pair boarded the shuttle but Annie refused to talk about it. Instead she turned her attention to the task at hand.


	16. It Was Finally Over

The Shadow Broker lived on Haglaz, an unlivable planet where the seas boiled during the day and then snap froze ten minutes after sun down. There was a constant lightning storm that made the Shadow Broker's ship practically undetectable. It was certainly impressive.

Their trip across the ship was certainly nothing Annie was used to. Heights had never been a problem for her but she still found her stomach knotting every time she glanced over the edge. But soon enough the team got through – despite the army and a half of Shadow Broker men they had to fight along the way – and soon enough they were standing in the very office of the great Broker.

It certainly fit the appearance Annie was imagining, big, filled with computers and so forth. The man behind the desk, though, she wasn't entirely able to make out.

"Here for the drell?" He said in a deep voice that vibrated down to Annie's toes. She kept her gun raised as he continued, "Reckless, even for you, Commander."

"Not reckless, just determined. Either way, it'll be pretty hard to run a base this size with no crew."

"They're replaceable," the ease with which he said that reminded her of Mira and it was clear as to how the woman had gotten involved with the Shadow Broker. He was probably the main reason Mira was even able to make such a successful come back after her run-in with the Alliance twelve years ago.

"You're quite confident for someone in a corner," Liara remarked.

"Because I know all of your secrets, T'Soni. Where you fumble in the dark," he glanced at Annie at the end of the sentence but Liara remained un-phased.

"Is that so? You're a Yahg, a young species quarantined to their planet for massacring the Councils first contact team. This ship is older than your people's existence so I'm assuming you're not the first Shadow Broker to be running this place. You probably were taken off-world by a hunter looking for a slave…" she paused, giving a small smirk, "or a pet. How am I doing?" The Broker sat there for a moment before suddenly snapping to his feet and slamming his fist down on the stone desk. It crumbled under the force and allowed him to throw a large piece at them. Annie dove out of the way, pulling Liara with her as the pair fell to the ground. Garrus had been knocked unconscious as the two women faced the brute alone.

He was massive as well as a cheat – something Annie expected from a man in his line of work. Every time they seemed to get the upper hand he would turn on this weird kinetic system that increased his shields and made hitting him impossible. The only thing Annie could think of was knocking him off guard, and Liara seemed to think the same.

Annie charged him, slamming against his kinetic shield and shoving him with as much force as she could as Liara readied herself. Liara focused her biotics on the kinetic liquid encased in glass above them. "Now, Annie!" She called and as Annie tumbled back Liara pulled her hands down, breaking the glass and sending a massive wave of kinetic energy on the Yahg. He screamed and then froze for a moment before exploding into millions of tiny pieces.

Panting, Annie made her way over to Garrus, helping him up as Liara went off to look at the computers. When Annie turned around, though, she found Liara introducing herself as _the_ Shadow Broker just as Feron came running in the door. It startled all of them.

"Are…are you sure about this, Liara?" Annie asked her as Liara gave her a bit of a coy smile, one Annie hadn't seen from her in a while, and one she admittedly missed.

"We can't pass up this opportunity. Think of all of the information he has here, all of his contacts. With this I can hopefully…I can…" she trailed off and Annie heard her voice begin to quiver as Feron and Garrus politely left the two alone. Slowly Annie walked over to her, turning Liara around to see tears streaming down her face. She looked at Annie, opening her mouth only to fall into her arms.

"It'll be okay, it's over now." Liara pulled back only to suddenly press her lips against Annie's. Her heart swelled and she hugged Liara close just as the woman pulled back.

"It's…it's been two years, Annie. We're different people." Annie shook her head reaching up to cup Liara's face.

"You're a different person, Liara, and I don't care about that. You've been the only thing I've thought about since waking up. In a bizarre way I thought seeing you again might make everything clear again." Liara raised a curious brow.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…I was dead, Liara. And then the next thing I know I'm waking up on a table and thrown into a suicide mission all for 'the betterment of humanity.'" Annie explained, resting her hips on the edge of the desk. "The rest of the galaxy had changed in two years…but I hadn't. It only felt like a few moments, a couple hour's maybe that I'd been gone. But I woke up to discover everyone had sort of just moved on." Liara stepped up in front of Annie with a small smile.

"No one moved on after you died, Annie. Don't ever think that. But I'm glad you're back." Annie smiled, standing up to give Liara another deep kiss, leaving the pair of them breathless as Liara gave a small giggle. "You know…I'm sure he would have some sort of living quarters back here. He couldn't have slept only at his desk." Annie gave Liara a sly grin, leaning close to whisper in her ear.

"Let's go on an adventure then."


	17. Adventure Time

It didn't take long for them to find what they were looking for…though probably longer than it should have considering they kept getting "distracted" along the way. The room was down a small hall in the back of the massive office, probably meant to look like nothing more than another wall to visitors. Annie didn't particularly care what the room looked like considering she wasn't going to be the one living here but as she looked around she realized there was a very good chance the old Broker had just slept at his desk, if he slept at all.

The place was massive, probably fit for an alien of the old Broker's size and then some with a gorgeous view of the planet below. There were lights in several corners that Annie was sure went to other necessary rooms like a kitchen and bathroom but the true center of attention was the bed. Now _that_ was a massive bed. It could probably fit the entire crew of the Normandy and then some and it was to be all theirs.

"You've never looked more beautiful," Annie breathed between kisses. Liara had begun to knowingly unclip Annie's armor. It was a process woman seemed to remember well and only spike the heat in Annie's body.

"You're just saying that," she shuddered as Annie nibbled at her neck, feeling along Liara's body to undo her clothes.

"I certainly am not," Annie stressed, dropping her arms for a moment as they discarded their armor, leaving them in nothing more than thin underclothes. "You've got a few new…_ass_ests," she teased, reaching around to slap Liara's tight ass. The woman moaned, biting down on her lip before pulling back.

"That's not fair," Liara purred, her body glowing as she gave a biotic push, tossing Annie onto her back on the bed. She stripped down before crawling forward. "I've got to try a few of my own tricks before you take me." Annie whimpered hungrily at her words, licking her lips as she looked over Liara's naked frame. Liara then yanked at Annie's top, stripping her torso bare as she straddled Annie's hips. It was a beautiful sight to say the least. It was a sight that was made better as she started to bite and suck on Annie's nipples. Her body reeled, hips pushing up against Liara's as the asari started to roll hers. Annie moaned, tipping her head back as Liara started to slide down lower. The commander looked up, helping Liara pull of her leggings as Liara settled herself onto her knees and elbows.

Liara dove her tongue between Annie's legs, moaning at the wetness and taste she loved as Annie leaned forward. She slid her hand down Liara's smooth spine, giving her ass another slap as Liara groaned. Slowly Annie's fingers inched their way between Liara's legs, feeling the slick wetness she'd missed. Liara moaned, her body glowing blue in reaction to the touches.

"Annie," she panted between licks, "I can't wait." At that she pulled back, her body flowing a larger aura of blue as Annie tilted back onto her back. She licked teasingly at her fingers as Liara slid down on top of her, seductively licking up Annie's fingers before thrusting her hips against her lover's. Liara's biotics allowed for the pair to share a similar energy that entered the pair like a phallus. They moaned, Annie's back arching up as pleasure rippled to her toes. The asari love was hungry, her movements already quick and ready to finish as Annie sat up. For someone that was normally so cautious and careful with work, when it came to sex Liara could never contain herself.

Without needing to ask and without losing physical contact with Liara, Annie trned Liara onto her hands and knees. The commander settled her body behind Liara's raised hips, giving her several solid spanks before thrusting her hips against Liara's. It was slow at first but quickly picked up the pace, the pair panting and their moans echoing through the room.

"Liara…' Annie shuddered, feeling her legs tremble as her stomach tightened, the pair dripping onto the sheets.

"Please…don't stop," Liara begged, pushing her hips back as Annie drove the pair of them to their climaxes. And while they laid their for a few seconds, sweaty skin against sweaty skin, they were quick to start up rounds two through four. By that point they collapsed into the mass of sex stained sheets and pillowed, their naked limbs intertwined.

Annie had never gotten used to entering Liara's memories. It was all so weird, like a dream where she was nothing more than a fly on the wall. Most of Liara's memories were good ones, either about her mother, work, or education. But apparently too much had happened in the past two years for Annie to fall into one of those. Instead she found herself in a memory she never wished existed.

The planet around Annie was mostly rock with a few plants here and there and from the size of the sun she figured it was pretty hot. Liara was much better at naming planets simply from their surroundings. Annie decided it must not be any place particularly deadly as she watched Liara step from the landed escape pod without a breathing mask.

Liara was helping everyone get out of the escape pod as an Alliance ship landed nearby. Annie stood next to her, a ghost in the memory, looking at the hardened expression on her face. Liara wasn't focused. Annie had seen her focused. The asari had the odd ability to look like she'd entered a whole other world when she was focusing. At this point in time, though, she was simply forcing herself to not think about what else was happening around her. And Annie could tell Liara was having a difficult time succeeding.

Suddenly the memory shifted, fast forwarding to another escape pod. The seal opened and Joker came limping out as Liara ran forward, Dr. Chakwas in tow. "Where is she?" Liara demanded as Joker slowly lifted his gaze. His eyes were red and puffy but his breathing was even.

"Liara…Shepard didn't make it," the words seemed to be harder to say than he expected as he looked quickly towards the sky. The light shined over his tear glazed eyes as Liara rapidly shook her head.

"No! You're lying!" She shoved past him, dipping her head into the empty pod. Dr. Chakwas came to Joker's side, looking over his fragile body.

"Liara, I'm sorry but she got caught in the explosion. She was barely able to send out the pod I was in. Even if she survived the explosion, she probably damaged-"

"No!" She refused again, using her biotic ability to angrily throw a boulder twice her size. "She would have survived! She…she always does…" her voice softened as the realization finally hit her. Liara placed her hand over her mouth and Annie began to painfully watch her grieve as Liara crumbled to the ground. Her body trembling as the remaining Normandy and the Alliance soldiers bowed their heads in respect.

Annie couldn't help herself as she sat down next to Liara, wrapping her ghostly arms around Liara's shoulder as tears filled the corners of Annie's eyes. "I'm so sorry," she breathed into her ear, "I never meant for you to live with this." But in a way Annie knew she was aware of the risks. Annie was a soldier and it was her responsibility to dive into enemy fire for the good of humanity and the galaxy. But it was still a risk the couple never wished to worry about, for fear of this.

Her eyes snapped open as Annie awoke from the memory, only to find she was alone in the oversized bed. Slowly she stepped out from the sheets, dragging one to wrap around her bare torso. "Liara?" Annie cooed from the gap in the door only to stop as she looked out, seeing the asari sitting on a couch. Her fingers clutched something silver and metal as she curled her knees tight to her chest. Liara wept silently and Annie could sense she wasn't the only one that dreamt of that incident.

Quietly Annie emerged, making her way towards the woman. Liara was fully dressed and Annie assumed she'd been up for a while – Liara was even worse at getting sleep than she was. "Liara," the commander remarked again, startling her as she quickly tried to wipe away the tears on her cheeks.

"Annie…sorry, I wanted to get started on working," she lied, getting up from the couch. Annie reached out for her, immediately feeling her tense as Annie grabbed the hand she had clenched around the metal item. Slowly she uncurled Liara's fingers to expose the pair of dog tags that had been taken off of Annie's necklace. Liara looked up, her eyes wet from fresh tears. "I…I meant to give them back. It's just when I gave Cerberus the amulet I realized I would have nothing left of you. And at the time I needed something in case they weren't able to bring you back." Annie, curled her hands closed again, pulling her into a gentle hug.

"You can keep them. I don't need them anymore," Annie pressed a tender kiss to her forehead before wiping at the tears on Liara's cheeks. "I saw what happened…" Annie added as Liara bowed her head shamefully.

"Annie, I need you to understand this will take time." Annie gave her a somewhat confused look. "Sex doesn't fix everything. I changed after you died…both for the better and worse. I wasn't that same girl that you met three years ago after what happened. I had to teach myself…" she cleared her quivering voice, "teach myself how to live without you. And I made a lot of mistakes and regrets while I did." Liara sighed, running her hand over her tentacles as she looked up at Annie with her big and beautifully sad eyes. "It's not that I'm not happy you're alive, Annie…I just need to adjust."

"I'm sorry, Liara…" Annie whispered as Liara gave a sad smile and a nod of her head.

"I know," she leaned up and gave a gentle kiss. "Just give me time while you go save the galaxy. But please…come back to me." Annie gave her another warm hug and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, resting her forehead against Liara's.

"Always."


	18. Prayers for the Wicked

Annie left soon after that, Liara already nose-deep in her business. She was right about it being a dream job for her. The woman was intense about getting her needed answers and now she had no limits. Every resource that she could possibly want was at her fingertips and Annie knew Liara would do everything she could to help Annie with the approaching Reapers.

The Normandy returned to Illium from the base to get the first of the new recruits in the city, Thane. Apparently he was some sort of super assassin and he was only joining them due to its convenient timing. Annie couldn't say she had much of an opinion about assassins. Certainly they were skilled with their weapons but they were very cold emotionally. She guessed it helped keep them focused. Kasumi had the same sort of skills as an assassin but her cocky attitude made it very clear she was a thief that took pride in her work. Annie never heard of any worthwhile assassin taking pride in the targets they killed but more of the skills they used to do it.

But they were directed to a large office building, which seemed to be on high alert as they were immediately attacked by security mechs before even getting in the door. At first Annie thought the assassin had messed up and they were now required to save his assassinating ass, but then realized it was quite the opposite. Annie and her team were considered to be the assassins and thus had to fight their way through, hearing radio chatter from Eclipse members silenced after a few choking sounds. The man was certainly resourceful and Annie was sure their "distraction" was making his trip up the skyscraper a littler easier.

She couldn't help but think back to what Mira said, though, as Annie took out waves of Eclipse mercs. Her job was to protect the galaxy, which meant removing those that threatened it…and yet Annie now wasn't sure if she was doing that. In a way she simply considered anyone that pointed a gun at her to be an enemy of the galaxy. If that were the case, though, Wrex wouldn't have made it off of Virmire. But it wasn't like she could just _not_ shoot them; she'd be dead otherwise.

They rounded a corner to find a merc looking out the massive office window with his back to them. Without skipping a beat Garrus and Miranda slipped away to cover the exits as Annie fired a shot at the window, shattering it and surprising the merc. Quickly, Annie ran up to him, grabbing him by the collar of his armor as he leaned dangerously backwards out the recently opened window.

"Shit, shit, shit! What do you want?" She did have to admit she was enjoying the increased strength these synthetics gave. They gave her a nice little edge and fun little perks like being able to hold a man out a window with only one hand.

"Tell me where the assassin is," Annie ordered as he glanced nervously over his shoulder.

"I don't fucking know!" Daringly, Annie pretended to start losing her grip.

"Try again or my hand might slip."

"Okay, okay…shit," he hissed through his teeth, wrapping his hands around Annie's forearm to try and stay connected to it. "Look, the last time we had a read on him he was in the air vents on this floor. But that was twenty minutes ago." Annie scowled as Garrus stepped up next to her.

"Your hand looks a little tired there, Shepard."

"Shepard? As in _the_ Commander Shepard? Oh fuck," the merc whimpered as Annie smirked. Admittedly it was always fun to see idiots like this come to the slow realization of who she was. They tended to start agreeing a little more after that. And for a moment she was about to just let go and walk away but she realized she didn't know why she should do that. He was no threat to her. Sure, maybe he would keep causing trouble after…but it wasn't like he had any sort of intentions or ability to destroy the galaxy.

With only a small amount of difficulty Annie pulled him up and tugged him close to her face. "I recommend you do the smart thing and get as far away from this place as possible." He nodded vigorously as Annie shoved him towards the elevator.

"You think that was a good idea?" Garrus asked as they continued up the building.

"There was no point, he wasn't dumb…or _that_ dumb anyway."

A few more fire fights and they arrived at the office of an asari Annie had mistakenly helped years before. It didn't surprise her that someone had put a hit out on the woman. "Shepard, so you're back from the dead and come straight here to kill me?" As she leaned against her desk Annie watched a body silently descend from the ceiling, incapacitating the guards behind Thane's target.

"No, but I'm here to pick him up," Annie pointed behind her as she turned. Without any time to react the assassin fired a shot into the asari's chest, killing her instantly and cleanly as he gently rested her on the desk. Respectfully her crossed her arms over her chest and then he went silent, hands clasped in front of him and head bowed. "Um…Thane?" Annie waited a moment, as he remained silent, the commander shifting into a slightly more annoyed posture as he continued to ignore her.

"Pardon me," he finally responded, raising his head as Annie looked into the somewhat unsettling black holes that were his eyes. "I was praying for a wicked soul." At the comment she couldn't help her scoff as he moved away from the desk.

"I assure you, she doesn't deserve it."

"Not for her…for me," Annie blinked, astonished. He wasn't at all what she expected. The assassin was aware of his skills but didn't seem proud of them nor what they caused. It was amazingly respectable.

As we spoke Annie discovered he was also dying from a disease that slowly removed the oxygen from his blood. It reminded her of the painful burning she felt when suffocating in space. The idea that it could take years for the same or similar result brought a shiver down her spine. Overall Thane was a gentleman, very quiet, and passive. He was quick to settle into the ship without much question. Annie supposed that's how assassins worked; live simply with a target that they would patiently wait for the right chance to hit. Of course, with his new target being the Collectors he had quite a while to wait and a much smaller window to execute in.


	19. Double Crossed

Before Annie could go after the Justicar the Illusive Man informed her of a dead Collector ship that a turian cruiser had taken out. Now…she didn't doubt the turian's abilities when related to the military but she had first-hand experience with what a Collector ship could do and couldn't really believe a single turian cruiser had taken it out. But Annie's curiosity made it impossible to walk away. Plus, they needed to figure out what the Collectors were up to or at least be able to find some sort of weakness. Because, truth be told, if they couldn't take out the Collectors there wasn't much hope for the galaxy for when the Reapers arrived.

"So…tell me again what we're doing on this thing." Garrus asked as they readied themselves before entering the Collector's ship. There was only one way Annie could describe the appearance of it in that it looked like a hive with way it was compartmentalized. But rather than having honey, it was covered in some sort of disgustingly oozy material that Annie refused to touch.

"Apparently some turian cruiser took out the ship and then signaled for help. EDI hasn't been able to find any life signs but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be ready." Tali nodded but Garrus didn't seem any more comfortable with the situation as he ensured his riffle was fully loaded before heading any deeper.

_Commander_, EDI called, _from my readings I was able to compare this ship to the one on Horizon, they're a match._ Annie figured that made sense, the defense turrets probably softened them enough for the turians to finish the job, but it didn't make her feel any better. Probably because they still had to search the place rather than running for the hills. But that's what Annie was best at, doing the jobs others didn't. Not that she minded, just wished some people recognized that she didn't always do this for the adrenalin rush.

But as they entered what looked like a testing compartment Annie found something unsettling. When she had first run into the Collectors she knew there was something familiar about them…and now she knew why. EDI had been able to run a DNA comparison on the dead Collector found on an operating table and announced that it had in fact been a Prothean. There were a few similarities that Annie could see, the eyes and head shape mostly but the mouth had been genetically removed along with other things the Collectors counted as "junk." It was horrible and made her shiver to think what would've happened if they'd gotten their hands on her. Would they have just finished destroying what was left of Commander Shepard? Or turn her into their personal monster? Annie didn't care to hang around and ask.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the bad news. _Commander, _Joker started, _on a hunch I had EDI run a diagnostics on the Collector ship compared to the one we ran into two years ago…it's an exact match._ Annie suddenly felt sick at Joker's news, stopping dead in her path, as she looked up at all the pods and the supposedly dead ship. For two years this same vessel had been tailing her? This couldn't be coincidence and it only made her tighten her grip on her gun as they continued. Now she was really ready to leave.

"Where are the bodies of the Collector crew, Shepard? I know they said the ship was dead but…" Tali started as the three stepped onto a platform to upload information to the Normandy. It was then that the ship sparked to life, shuddering and thudding. Annie gripped the side as the platform started to move unexpectedly.

"EDI, what's going on?" Annie watched as Garrus carefully took hold of Tali and at another time she might have responded but right now she just needed to make sure her team got out alive.

_Someone has taken control of the system, Shepard. This was a trap. _Annie gritted her teeth together, it was almost too obvious that's what this was. The fact that they had been able to just waltz into the middle of the Collector ship was too easy.

"Okay, just try and direct us out EDI," Annie ordered her as the computer system immediately set off to tap into the design plans of the ship. Annie just hoped they could hold the Collectors off long enough to get out.

Their escape certainly wasn't casual, especially as EDI informed them that they were not only lead into a trap but also lead in by the Illusive Man. Annie should have expected that he would eventually stab her in the back. She had every intension on calling him out on his bullshit the moment his arrogant holographic little face appeared.

"You son of a bitch."

"Hello, Shepard," he casually remarked, only annoying Annie more, "I needed the Collectors to give up the information we needed. They underestimated us, underestimated you and it will be their downfall."

"I don't risk my team," Annie growled.

"When you're in my position you have to make certain risks."

"In your position? You mean sitting behind a desk while you pay for others to clean up your messes?" There was a pause as he exhaled more smoke from the cigarette. She had to wonder how many of those he had in a day, then again she was sure he had some sort of synthetic upgrade to deal with all of the tar in his system.

"Shepard, I do what I do because it is necessary, not because I like to. It's where the Alliance and I disagree."

"You and the Alliance disagree because the Alliance refuses to unnecessarily risk their soldiers."

"Which is why humanity has no hope to survive the Reapers attack. Risk a few to protect billions," he remarked as Annie found herself tasting blood from biting her lip. This was pointless, she was just wasting her breath and the Illusive Man knew it. It was as if he had expected this conversation, anticipated everything Annie was going to say, and then planned responses. All he had to do was smile and she knew he had found victory in their disagreement.

"Despite what you might think, our mission was a success," he continued as Annie tried to force herself to ignore the snide expression on his face. "We were able to get the information we needed and discovered where the Collectors base of action is." A map of the galaxy appeared next to him, a red circle swirling around the galactic gases before resting almost dead in the center. That would be impossible. Even if they could get there the center of the galaxy was a black hole that would strip the Normandy of its protective plating before it hurdled into its emptiness. "We have collected information on a way to upgrade the Normandy's capabilities to deal with where the Collectors are located. A Reaper IFF is required and we happen to have found one at one of our research bases onboard a dead Reaper ship."

A dead Reaper ship…the Illusive Man was far stupider than Annie thought if he really believed those words. Even if she had been the one to climb out of what was left of Sovereign two years ago…she could still sense its attempt to take hold of her thoughts and turn them against her. It was a frightening thing to think that a Reaper might never die. But if this "IFF" would help them take down the Reapers then she would risk it…her whole team would.

It was then, though, that Annie realized she didn't find as much comfort in her team as she had on the old Normandy. Certainly she knew Garrus and Tali had her back, but Annie could feel a sense of distance from the rest of the team, especially as she gave them the news. They were all a little reserved and seemed to suddenly bring up things that they needed to get done in their lives, family issues that they needed help with. On top of that Annie still had a final member to pick up.


	20. The Final Member

From what she had heard about Samara she was certainly impressed but also a little uncertain about her. Justicars were known for living by a strict set of rules and oaths that they had set for them. Annie was worried that Samara's oaths might clash with what they were trying to do here. But Annie supposed they would find out eventually as they touched back down on Illium, her gaze drifting up to where Liara had once been. A smile crawling on Annie's face as she thought of where Liara was now; hopefully happy but also probably plenty exhausted. What the couple had together now certainly wasn't the smoothest or the best that it could be – probably wouldn't be for a long while – but at least they still existed in each other's lives.

They were directed to a crime scene in the lower parts of the city, something having to do with shipping goods and Eclipse troops. Annie couldn't say she was particularly bothered to figure out more as they approached the detective in charge, praying she'd see their need to get in and get out and just let them grab their target and go.

And funny enough, the violet asari seemed just as eager for Annie and her crew to get Samara and get out as they were. Meaning she was quick to give them authorization to get in, though Annie had a strong feeling that would be the easiest part of this mission – it always was. Apparently someone had been murdered here, some sort of goods merchant or something, she hadn't really paid attention. Anyway, it seemed to involve the Eclipse, which only made Annie believe that they were at the heart of the issue and probably the reason someone had even died. Not to say she didn't really care, but she just had a few more important things on her plate than playing investigator.

Annie was able to find Samara without much issue but then watched as she flung an Eclipse commander about, calmly asking for the name of some ship. When she got nothing the Justicar simply ended the woman's life with a strong and terrifying biotic punch to the center of her face. Annie blinked, shifting her gaze between Samara and the dead asari commando on the ground. "Is it friend or foe that stands before me?" Her tone was just as calm as it had been during the fight, showing no sign of exertion or anger.

"Friend," Annie stated, maybe a little too quickly for her liking. But admittedly Samara was a bit intimidating with her cool exterior and the immense power that she had at her fingertips. Annie was known for getting the job done and being a little rough around the edges but that was with a hell of a lot of running and exhaustion involved. Samara hardly looked like she had broken a sweat. "Commander Shepard, I'm here on behalf of Cerberus." The woman looked at me, seeming to raise her eyebrow without even changing her facial expression. Quickly Annie's mind shifted to remember how…intense the Justicar were about their manners and she gave a small bow of her head, "It would be my honor for you to join us on our mission to stop the Collectors." There was a pause before Samara seemed to smile.

"Manners? Even from a human such as yourself? How refreshing. I am Samara, and I am aware of Cerberus' offer but I will not leave until I have gotten what I have come here for."

"Which is?"

"A ship name. The Eclipse mercenaries have transferred a very important piece of cargo that they shouldn't have and I wish to find it. If you help me locate the name of the ship then I shall join you on your mission." Annie looked over her shoulder, watching the detective approaching the group hesitantly.

"Justicar Samara, I'm afraid I have to place you under arrest," Annie was shocked at first, surprised to see that the detective that wanted the woman gone was now making her stay. But as she turned to face Samara the woman was once again calm and collected, giving a small nod of her head in agreement as she glanced towards Annie.

"Follow our agreement and I will leave this planet with you," Annie nodded, watching Samara lead the detective away from the crime scene as Annie gave a somewhat "here we go" glance at her team.

Fortunately, as data collecting missions go, this was one of the easiest. Sure, it did involve a bit of gunfire and taking out a gunship, but that was the worst of it. And it allowed them to get back onto the ship with the old Justicar.

But it was then that Annie started to get constant "requests" from her fellow crewmates on assisting her on last minute tasks. For a while she felt a little hesitant about agreeing, simply wishing to get the mission underway, but when she really thought about it she knew it was important. She needed her people at their most focused, knowing that they were able to finish all that needed completing before heading into their possible death. She would've wanted it that way as well.

COMMENTS: Finally was able to draw up the cover art for this bad boy. I hope you like it. I do. Enjoy!


	21. A Little Housekeeping

It began with Jacob, discovering a curious signal sent from a ship his father had supposedly died on. In truth, the ship had crashed on an uninhabited planet, the only food on it being mushrooms that seemed to reduce the remaining crewmembers to a sort of caveman-like state. The women were confused and scared while the men grew immensely violent and territorial. It left Annie with a bad taste in her mouth as they discovered their great "leader" was Jacob's father. The man had been placed at the top of some mountain with the only remaining safe food. He tried to tell them that it was out of his control, that he hadn't wanted what had happened. But none of them bought it. Annie couldn't tell if Jacob was thankful for discovering the truth about his father, or only more lost.

Next, was Miranda, the woman having come to the uncomfortable discovery of some information. Apparently, Miranda wasn't an only child. During her time as a lab rat to her father a second daughter – a replacement – was created. It was her twin but born when Miranda was a teenager. She didn't want her sister, Oriana, to suffer the same fate as she had. So in her escape she took the baby, ensuring she was placed into a good family and able to live a good life. But it seemed that somehow her father had gotten news of where Oriana was and Miranda was asking Annie for help to save her.

It wasn't exactly the easiest of trials but they were able to stop Oriana and her family from being shipped off. In the process they discovered that Miranda's contact, Niket, was the one trying to return Oriana to her father. He believed that what Miranda he done in stealing the baby was a crime. That the only reason he had helped Miranda escape all those years ago was because Miranda chose to run away. He believed that she had taken Oriana from a life of wealth and happiness. Even without knowing much about Miranda's father, Annie knew that wasn't completely true.

And in the end, Niket was killed by an eclipse merc, who was then swiftly shot down by the commander. Miranda was upset, scolding herself for trusting the man, for not cutting ties and then upset at Shepard for stopping her from killing Niket herself. But Annie knew she had done the right thing stopping Miranda. It was clear she still cared for the man and what he'd done to help her in her life. Having his blood on her hands would only begin a world of regret.

From there, Annie found herself returning to the dark world of Omega to help Samara find her daughter. Apparently she was an Ardak-Yashi, an evolved version of asari that killed their victims by merging with their minds before sucking them dry and leaving the victim an empty husk. EDI directed them to a woman whose daughter had recently been killed by the asari. The worst part of it all was that this asari was also Samara's daughter, Morinth. Annie was having a hard time thinking about it, about having a duty to kill her own daughter. Samara claimed to have three of them, all with the same condition though apparently Morinth was the only troublemaker of them. If any of her children with Liara were to be diagnosed as Ardak-Yashi, she wouldn't be able to treat the occasion so casually.

But they agreed she would need to be lured out from the VIP section of the Afterlife. It made Annie respect Aria more to know that the woman disliked the VIP section of the club, as if to know that that wasn't where she needed to be. Especially since the place seemed to be full of just a whole bunch of first class posers. But supposedly this was the place where Morinth prowled for her victims and Annie was to try her best to attract her attention. It was funny to think about, but Annie hadn't had to do anything like that for several years. She never outright attempted to get someone's attention because normally she already had it. Of course, a lot of that attention involved someone pointing a gun at her, but same difference.

Either way she stepped into the club, wearing an outfit she couldn't say she had ever thought much about wearing. It looked a lot like her armor that she wore normally, except without the padding. There was black, leather-like material on her legs that disappeared into a pair of high-heeled black boots. Her shirt was grey, tight and long sleeved, that covered her palms but left her fingers exposed. There was a splash of red across it as she let her hair hang down in its natural waves. Unfortunately, the only attention she seemed to get was from people she didn't particularly care about.

"Hey there, princess," a man cooed, giving a small whistle as she passed by, attempting to ignore him. Suddenly his hand snapped out and hit her square in the ass, making her flinch as she turned slowly. He chuckled; clearly drunk by the way he wobbled in place as she smirked at him. Slowly she walked back as a dumb smile rested on his face, "What's a sexy thing like you doin' in a place like this," he slurred, running his hand up her thigh to rest on her butt. Without a warning Annie reached back, grabbing his wrist and twisting it at a painful angle to force him to flip onto his front. She pinned his arm against his back and pressed him tight to the wall with her other forearm as she moved close to his ear.

"I hate to tell you, but I'm far more interested in getting my ass slapped by a woman of the asari variety." Annie gave him another firm shove before stepping off and heading into the main part of the club. Unlike the main area this place didn't seem to have any sort of strippers, just people dancing drunkenly in the center with others settled around tables by the bar. It seemed just a little too…boring. But either way Annie decided a good place for her to go might be the bar, grab a drink and take a look around the room. Though, even there she met some trouble.


	22. Like Mother Like Daughter

As she approached the bar Annie was immediately greeted by a pair of krogan bodyguards. "This bar is off limits," one of them snapped as Annie raised a amused brow, glancing over their shoulder to see a very regal-dressed krogan slumped over the bar. The bartender looked less than pleased to be serving only one patron.

"And does your master have good reason to take up this entire bar?" Annie asked as the bodyguards turned to one another, seeming to not expect what they would consider a petite female to fight back.

"Just back off," the other one huffed as Annie chuckled, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry but I'm really just too thirsty for that. So why don't you be good little boys and let me get myself a drink before this gets ugly." They snorted angrily, starting to show some aggression as their employer turned in his seat. He looked Annie over before giving a scoff of his own.

"Deal with her," he said casually and his goons immediately started to charge. Annie shifted her foot back as one lowered his head to take her out. She timed her jump and pushed off his head to launch herself at the other krogan, sending a heavy punch into his head. He collapsed onto the floor unconscious as the other one continued to charge into a party's table as they screamed. Annie chuckled and stepped over the unconscious krogan as the bartender looked at her in disbelief.

"If you want to take over a bar, I recommend you go buy one of your own." She breathed, ordering a drink as the krogan started to laugh, sitting up to look at her again.

"You've got fire in your belly, female human. One I can respect. I'm done for the evening anyway," he remarked, leaving his half finished drink and snapping at his useless guards to get up and out of the bar. Almost immediately the place was swarmed and the bartender was kind enough to give Annie's drink for free as she slugged it down and turned her attention to the dance floor. Liara was the only one that knew her dirty little secret about dancing. She wasn't as bad as her other teammates assumed. In fact she was quite good, wishing to do it competitively as a child before Mindoir was attacked.

She slid onto the dance floor, patrons turned to watch her move her body in time to the beat. Apparently it had been just enough to attract the woman she was looking for as a warm body came up behind her. Annie pushed her hips back, grinding seductively against the asari as she rested her lips against Annie's, "My name's Morinth. You're the most interesting person in this place. Why is that?" The commander forced herself to think of something other than her intoxicating scent and her smooth words. She drifted to thoughts of Liara, of the Shadow Broker taking place of Morinth in this situation and it only seemed to liven up her swirling hips.

Gently she rested her head back on Morinth's shoulder, feeling the woman's hands move down her sides. "I think you and I want the same things," she whispered close enough so her lips drifted across Morinth's skin. The asari's grip tightened on her hips, fingers starting to slide inward. Annie adjusted her legs, parting them a little more as her body continued to roll against Liara's…Morinth's…whoever's hips.

"And what would that be?"

"Well, other than our bodies…maybe we could talk about it some?" Morinth's hands stopped a breath away from between Annie's legs as she smirked.

"Alright, follow me, I have a booth in the shadows." Annie followed, settling into the seat as they began to discuss things Samara had instructed her on. A lot of it had to do with art and music that Annie didn't know much about. Certainly she tried to stay updated in the galaxies top hits, but it was difficult to go to concerts or art galleries when she was chasing criminals around he galaxy.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Morinth remarked suddenly in their conversation, "My apartment is nearby and…I want you alone." Annie smirked, giving a nod of her head as they stood. She certainly was smoother than Liara in instances like this but she was nothing compared to Liara's beauty, nor the way Annie felt towards her. God, Annie couldn't remember the last time someone had asked to take her back to their apartment. It was almost shocking. But it wasn't like she was really trying to get anything from this woman; after all…she would have died if she slept with her. Not only because she'd have her brain sucked out but also because Lira would probably hunt her down and do it herself.

If anything the apartment was nice, clean, but Annie had the shuddering feeling that it was home to multiple deaths. She settled herself down on the couch as Morinth followed, sliding into her lap as she started to peck and kiss at her neck. "You were right, we do share a lot," she breathed between nibbles, sucking heavily on one part as Annie forced herself to keep her hands still. Hopefully whatever mark she left would go away before she saw Liara again.

"We've both killed many times, but that's where the similarities end."

"K-killed people? What are you talking about; I never said anything about that. What aren't you telling me?" She shifted to sit next to Annie, her eyes turning a haunting black as she tried to sink into Annie's brain. The commander didn't know what kept her out, maybe it was from her experience on Feron with Zhu's Hope or her mental connection with Liara, but she felt no hold from Morinth. "Look into my eyes, tell me you would do anything for me, that you'd die for me…kill for me." Annie leaned close, letting her lips part as if she had no control over them.

"There's only one asari I would make those promises to. And she's several systems over at the moment," Morinth blinked, snapping up as Samara entered the room. Immediately the pair began to fight, dark matter being tossed around in the apartment till Samara had Morinth pinned to the ground, a hand ready to punch.

"Find peace in the embrace of the goddess," she breathed, slamming her hand down to end her life. Annie felt a pained sensation in her stomach as she looked at the limp body and then up at Samara. The woman pulled in a deep breath, seemingly holding in all of her feelings towards her daughter's death in that movement. It was sad, see such an old warrior looking down at her victim…her daughter, seeing the hurt in her eyes. Annie hoped to never find herself in a similar circumstance.

COMMENTS: Sorry for the lateness on these chapters, headed to the beach today so I didn't get a chance to sit down and post till this evening. Enjoy!


	23. A Helping Hand

After Samara, Annie visited the planet of Tachunka, discovering both Grunt and Mordin had business there. Mordin had apparently been part of an elite group that returned to Tachunka to fix the genophage in order to counteract the krogan's adaptations. Annie considered it to be sick. It wasn't right what they had done a thousand years ago and it wasn't right that they returned to make it worse.

But the reason Mordin needed to return was because a krogan clan had apparently captured one of his students. They were forcing him to continue Mordin's experiments to cure the genophage. Annie didn't like the idea of going in and stopping the man's progress, but overall he was being forced to do it against his will. And that was something Annie never stood for as they busted down the door of the old krogan hospital. Unfortunately, though, they discovered nothing was at it seemed. When they arrived in the main room, they discovered that Mordin's student was in fact there by choice.

During their charge into the hospital the group had discovered that the tests done on female krogan were without mercy. He was killing them for hopes of progress but taking no precautions to the innocents' lives. Annie didn't like that they would be stopping his research but she certainly didn't like that innocents had to die for it. But as Mordin pointed a gun at his student's face the woman found her self stopping him, resting her hand on his shoulder and pulling him back. "He was just trying to help," she breathed as the kid nodded frantically.

"He helped by killing innocents," Mordin hissed as the student looked at Annie for some sort of help.

"You're right, but does it make it better by murdering him? If anything you should let him go, take his research, don't let the women that gave their lives for this die in vain." The salarian frowned before slumping as he stepped away.

"Get out of my sight," his student made no attempt to linger as Mordin set to work deleting all files except for the ones he had imported to his omni-tool. "These findings are dirty," he commented to Annie as the commander gave a solemn nod.

"But there's a chance that their sacrifice could lead to a cure," Mordin looked at the dead computer before giving a hard nod.

"Yes, a cure."

After that came Grunt, whom they discovered had begun his trip down puberty lane. It was a lot different than when a human began becoming an adult, as it probably was for all species. For krogan it was always based on violence and war and Grunt was finding that his violent nature didn't feel natural. He didn't understand why he couldn't control his anger until they met with the leader of the krogan, Urdnot Wrex.

"Wrex!" Annie chuckled as the krogan shoved his guards to the side so that they could clasp one another's forearms. She remembered it hurting a little more but must've gotten some tougher forearms than before.

"I thought you were dead!" He laughed as Annie waved her hand.

"Please, since when does being hurdled into a planet's gravitational pull every kept me down?" Wrex gave another hard laugh and a slap on his knee as they turned to business. It was obvious when Wrex explained it, telling them that Grunt would need to go through a trial that all young krogans needed to partake it. It would help him find where he belonged. But the only issue was that other krogans didn't agree with Wrex, other krogans that believed in the old ways – the ways that were killing their people. They didn't believe that a tank-bred krogan should be considered their own. But Annie would show them.

They surpassed the trail without an issue, being the second to defeat the mother of thresher maws since Wrex. Grunt was seen as a true krogan and placed under the Urdnot clan along with Wrex. She could see the fatherly look the old man gave to Grunt as much as she looked at him like a mother. He was a brute, but he was still a little kid to her, a little kid she cared deeply for. Grunt would lay down his life for her just as much as she would lay down her life for his.

The most surprising request after this was Jack's. She had discovered where the Cerberus base was that held her as a child and she wished to return there to blow it up. Annie had to say he was amazed the woman was even willing to talk to her but she agreed, somewhat hoping it would fix Jack in some way, or if anything just let her move on.

Supposedly, it was abandoned, but like most situations with the commander, that wasn't the case. As they made it further into the place they discovered they weren't alone, a group of Blood Pack mercenaries were hired to clean out the place for some mystery explorer. What Annie found difficult to watch, though, was Jack's slow realization, that everything she believed as a child was a lie. Jack thought she had it worse, that she was the victim in this place. In reality she was the lucky one. Jack was the survivor child; she was the one that could take the biotic upgrades because they'd already been tested on the sacrificed children before her. The riot hadn't been started by her but by the other children. Annie pitied her as they surged away from the facility, just making it out of the range of explosion in the shuttle.

"Shepard," she whispered as they made their way back to the Normandy. Annie had been watching out the window as the forest surrounding the facility burned.

"Hmm?" She responded, not looking towards Jack as the woman gave a small sigh and a shake of her head.

"I'm…sorry for the way I acted," she said, the word seeming to be painful as Annie turned towards her. "I guess I was a little bit blind to the truth of it all." It was then Annie realized how hard Jack had taken her words. She hadn't been fair to the biotic.

"No, I'm sorry. What happened to you isn't any less terrible or traumatic than what happened to…someone else. I wasn't fair to pull you out of the crowd."

"Right…" Jack nodded, looking up with a smile before catching Miranda's curious gaze. Instantly her features harden as she snapped to her feet. "I mean you're fucking right you shouldn't have done that. You're lucky I didn't kill you for it." Her words were angry but they barely bounced off the commander as she smirked and shook her head. Apparently Jack just liked having the image she'd grown up with. Maybe, though, she'd appreciate to know that she wasn't completely alone for once.


	24. A Friend in Need

From there they made their way to the Citadel, helping Thane reconcile with his son. The younger drell was angry with his father, upset that he had left him after his mother had died. To get back at his father he had taken up a job as a hit man and Thane refused to let his son follow in similar footsteps as his own. They were barely able to get to him in time, and thanks to C-Sec officer Baliey, he wasn't charged with much more than having to go and do some community service. Sure, it wasn't that much of an equal trade for almost killing a man, but Annie hated to watch the boy get dragged off to jail after what his father confessed.

What seemed to have happened was that some people had gotten to Thane's wife in order to get to him. It was a fear that Annie had about Liara almost regularly. Just like Thane's wife, Liara was her weakness, the woman she would crawl on her knees to find. And just like Thane had, she would hunt down whoever killed her and make each and every one of them pay for what they'd done. But he seemed to realize his selfishness of it, that he should've been a father and not an assassin. He realized he should have stayed with his son. It might've been too late for him to apologize, or it might've been just in time. Annie wasn't able to tell, she could only hope it was for the better.

All that she found from this was more respect for the drell, as he looked his angered son in the eye and told him the truth. "Kolyat, I've taken many bad people out of this world. You're the only good thing I put in it."

Next was Garrus, which Annie truthfully wasn't looking forward to. He had told her that he found a way to locate Sidonis – the man that betrayed his team. Annie hated to see the anger in his eyes, the hatred towards this Fade character. It was unsettling. He had been changed by the betrayal, and not for the better. The worst was watching how Tali seemed to avoid him, unable to deal with the anger that radiated from his person as Annie met with the traitor in a bar. Garrus had set himself up on a nearby ledge to take him out while she was talking to him. Annie would try to stop that.

"Sidonis," she called as the man flinched, lowering his voice.

"Don't ever utter that name out loud," he breathed as Garrus told Annie to move out of the way. But she stood still.

"I'm a friend of Garrus', and I've come to try and understand why you did it." He looked at Annie, trying to pretend he didn't know who or what she was talking about, but quickly the fake expression fell. He sighed, moving towards the bar to lean on it as Annie followed, being sure to keep her head in the middle of Garrus' gun and Sidonis.

"You have to understand, I had no choice. They would've killed me if I hadn't! But now…now I wish they had. Every night I wake up in a cold sweat and see them staring at me, blaming me, sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't just end it. It not like I even have much to live for anymore. I don't sleep, food had no taste, I'm just sort of dragging myself through life." Annie sighed, shaking her head as she rested her fingers on her ear.

"Listen to him, Garrus, there's no man left to kill."

"Tell Garrus…" Sidonis started, sighing and shaking his head, "there isn't anything I could say to make this better." There was radio silence for a moment before Garrus grunted, telling Annie to let him go before he changed his mind. Returning to the taxi wasn't exactly the calmest of moments and Annie could see he was still having second thoughts.

"You know it was the right thing to do." Garrus shook his head only for Tali to step up and rest her hand on his shoulder.

"It was the brave thing to do," she said, a smile hanging in the air as Garrus gave his own smirk and a nod. The ride back to the Normandy was a quiet one.

At least until Tali came to Annie with some disturbing information. Annie had been sitting in her quarters, supposedly writing an email and taking care of reports when in actuality she was in the middle of a call with Liara. "Wait, so what was it you said to him?" Liara asked, on the display on Annie's omni-tool.

"I said 'I hate to tell you by I'm way more interested in getting my ass slapped by a woman of the asari variety.'" At that Liara burst out laughing, giving the every so often snort as Annie gave a less enthusiastic laugh, not sure what about that was so funny.

"You and your one-liners. Goddess, I love them. I'm going to store that," she laughed as Annie gave her an annoyed looked only for her door to snap open.

_I'm sorry, Commander. But she overrode my security measures_, EDI remarked as Tali came rushing in, not noticing the video call.

"Oh Annie it's horrible!" She wept, as Annie stood, suddenly embraced by Tali. Annie glanced over her shoulder, one hand cupping the back of Tali's face as she gave Liara an apologetic look. The woman smirked, blowing a kiss before ending the call as Annie tried to calm Tali down.

"What is? What happened? Did Garrus say something?"

"G-Garrus? No…why, did he plan to say something?" She sniffled as Annie rubbed the back of her neck giving a nervous laugh and a shake of her head.

"No, sorry. Pretend I never mentioned him. Just tell me what happened."

"They're... the Council is accusing me of treason!" Annie blinked, startled as Tali settled onto the end of Annie's bed, holding her head in her hands.

"Maybe I can talk to them, use my position to convince them otherwise." Tali looked up at Annie before shaking her head.

"Not the Citadel Council, the Council of my people. They claim that I've been sending dangerous geth parts to the fleet. But I would never, they were always inactive, I made sure of it." Annie rested a hand on Tali's back as she pulled in a few shaky breaths. "I don't know what to do."

"We'll go to them," Annie stated, "we'll attend the meeting and show that it was a misunderstanding." Tali looked up, giving another sniffle.

"You…you think that'll work?"

"It's certainly worth a try."


	25. Proving a Friend's Innocence

So they headed to the Far Rim of the galaxy, boarding the main fleet ship. Annie couldn't help but feel a little nervous about all of this, especially as they were welcomed aboard. Tali had been marked as Tali vas Normandy, apparently a shameful name since it related her to a human ship. On top of that, because Annie was her captain she was to speak on Tali's behalf. But that was the least of their problems.

"We are here, Tali Zor'ah vas Normandy, to discuss your treason against the fleet by sending active geth parts back during your travels."

"They were deactivated!" Tali snapped but the Council seemed quick to ignore her.

"You sent active geth parts to your father and now he and his ship have gone silent. We have been unable to reach him for two days now and-"

"What!" Tali squeaked as Annie found herself getting angry.

"You mean to tell us that her father had been missing this entire time and you wish to waste it talk rather than finding if he's all right?"

"Captain, we understand that you are new to our customs but this is how we must proceed." Annie shook her head, images of her past running through her head. If she had had a chance to save her father, to get to him before they did, then she would ignore any protocol they had in place, human or quarian.

"No, we're going to find Tali's father. And when we do we'll come back with proof that Tali is innocent." They were big words, and seemed to make Tali uneasy as they stepped from the ship to a shuttle that would drift them towards the dark ship of Tali's father. But Annie couldn't help herself; she couldn't just let them tell Tali she was grounded. She deserved better than that, especially if there was a chance of saving her father.

Unfortunately, as they got aboard they realized what had happened. Tali had delivered the parts to her father completely deactivated, but her father was the one that was reactivating them. He was attempting to reprogram a geth, to try and get some sort of leg up in this war between them. But in the process they had given off a signal that alerted the geth to their threat. The synthetics had boarded the ship, killing the scientists onboard…including Tali's father.

"No!" Tali shouted, falling over the man's body before quickly turning to his omni-tool. "No, he's not dead. There was always something, always a back up life support system set up. He wouldn't just die…he wouldn't just leave me," Annie bent down, resting her hand on Tali's shoulder as the quarian turned to hug her. Tears filled Annie's eyes at she tried to soothe Tali's trembling. As a child Annie never had much time to mourn for her family. She was forbidden to cry with Mira, forcing her to become numb to the pain and realization that her family was no more. Even when she was freed it was still hard to understand it, to understand anyone's loss. But watching as Tali's body fell against hers, shaking in sorrow, Annie found it difficult to keep herself from collapsing in front of her.

Suddenly, there came a beep from the body as Tali's father's omni-tool lit up to show a holographic recording. _Tali…if you are listening to this, then I am dead. I never wanted for this to happen but we tried to play God and we failed. I'm sorry. But you have to get to the main server, cut off the program to keep the fleet safe. I love you, Tali, and I'm so very proud of you_. There was a bang in the background as the holograph was suddenly cut off. Tali sniffled, looking at his body before clenching her fist.

"Come on," she said firmly, running the group to the server of the ship. They deactivated the signal and killed the remaining geth before returning to the main ship. The Council was waiting but Tali pulled Shepard to the side with a nervous look. "Annie," she said, "what my father did…" her voice started to quiver as Garrus reached up and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She glanced towards him, seeming to smile before turning back and clearing her throat. "What he did…I can't tell the Council. He doesn't deserve to be remembered that way."

"But…what else are we to tell them? It's all we have for you case."

"You'll find a way, _captain_," Garrus smiled, "you always do." Annie smirked and nodded, the group being lead into the main room again as the Council asked the group what they found. Annie glanced nervously at Tali before turning back with a sigh.

"It doesn't matter what we found on that ship," she started, getting a surprised gasp from the crowd. "Tali had proved her loyalty to her people time and time again. She risked her life during her pilgrimage to provide essential information that allowed us to go after Saren. She helped me save the Citadel from a Reaper attack and then returned with vital information on the geth. This woman has done nothing more than put her people first."

"Her loyalty was never in question, captain," one of the Council members stated. "Simply her morals." Annie bowed her head, shaking it as she looked up at them again.

"Her morals are for the betterment of her people. Every day she risks her life for the fleet. Our mission requires going through the Omega 4 relay. It's suicide but I've never seen her once falter in her actions. She should be proud to be called Tali vas Normandy with how smoothly the ship runs with her aboard. She is a warrior as well as a friend and if you care for her as I do…as my whole crew does…then you should have no need to question her morals." There was a pause as Annie finished her speech, feeling Tali grip her forearm nervously. The Council turned to one another, whispering some before glancing back as the head Ambassador cleared her throat.

"The Council hear by drops all charges towards Tali Zor'ah vas Normandy," Annie gave a sigh of relief as the crowd gave a surprised applause. Tali turned, embracing Garrus in the excitement as Annie smirked, the room quick to disperse. Slowly the pair pulled away, glancing through one another's breathing masks, seeming to forget about the world around them.

"I can show you guys some private places on the Normandy if you want," Annie remarked obnoxiously, startling the two as they jumped away. They were quiet on the walk back to the Normandy, but Annie could swear she saw them holding hands out of the corner of her eye.

But when they returned and Annie made her way back up to her quarters she found she wasn't able to shake her feelings about Tali's father. The girl had been so broken about his death, but also seemed to grow stronger by his last words. Annie wondered if Liara had done that for her as well as when her mother, Benezia had died. She wouldn't say she was jealous of the two, she simply realized how little she had copped with her own family's death.

"EDI?" Annie called, flopping onto the bed on her back as she looked through the skylight in her room.

_Yes, Commander_?

"Shepard," Annie corrected with a small sigh, "could I talk to you…off the record?"

_Certainly, though if you are looking for a therapist's response I might recommend calling up Kelly._ Annie smirked, shaking her head as she watched the stars drift by.

"I'm not really sure I'm looking for a therapist's input. I just…I just want someone to listen. You know?"

_I do, it's written into my programming._ Annie smirked at her bluntness before giving a small sigh. Did she really want to dive into this? Wouldn't it be easier to just ignore it like she had for so many years? The commander gripped the amulet of her necklace, warming the oozing material in her palm.

"I feel like I've missed something. When my parents were killed…I never had the ability to mourn for them. My brothers and father had always raised me to be tough and strong and so during my capture I tried to keep to that but after everything that happened I just sort of felt…numb. And now that I'm free from all of that I feel like I should be able to react differently. I feel like I should be able to morn their deaths but I still consider it as just an event that happened, like they were nothing but strangers to me. Half the time I feel like all I know is anger and sarcasm."

_What about Liara?_

"All right, and lust too," Annie smirked, resting her forearm across her forehead as her eyes closed lightly.

_No, I do not mean lust. Though that is apparent at times too. I mean love. I can see it in how your body temperature rises whenever you two speak, this entry got a particularly strong reaction: "Goddess, I love them." _Annie opened her eyes at the recording of Liara's voice, sitting up.

"You record our conversations?" She hissed.

_I record everyone's conversations, it's required by my programming. Fortunately, no one programmed what I was supposed to do with them so no one else knows. But however it is that you humans describe love, I believe you have it with Liara. Not just for Liara but your whole crew. You respect and care for them as they respect and care for you, like a family would._ Annie felt a sudden rush of tears appearing in her eyes as she blinked, one slipping out of the corner and down her temple as she gave a small chuckle.

"You think so?"

_As an AI I do not give my input without well-tested evidence. So yes, Shepard I know so._

"Thank you," Annie sighed, letting her eyes close again with a small smile. "But if I find you recording another one of our conversations I will tear you out of this ship with my own two hands."

_Understood, Shepard_.

"Oh and EDI? I hope you know you're one of those people. Part of the family." There was a pause and for a moment Annie thought she had actually been speaking to no one but herself.

_Joker wishes to know where our next destination is, Annie Shepard._ Annie laughed, sitting up and wiping at the few tears at the corners of her eyes.

"Just Shepard, EDI. When we save the galaxy I'll consider upgrading you to Annie."

_I'll look forward to it. _


	26. An Unlikely Ally

It was then time to collect the Reaper IFF. Annie couldn't say she was looking forward to it; in fact she'd been attempting to delay it for as long as possible. There was a strange feeling that she had about it, as if the moment they picked it up she knew there was no turning back. After plugging this into the Normandy she knew that their attack on the Collectors wouldn't be far around the corner.

"Okay," Annie started as her small team readied themselves on the shuttle. The woman went through her regular routine, checking the buckles on her armor as well as the set up of her sniper. "The Illusive Man claimed that there shouldn't be anyone on this ship. It's apparently been dead for several weeks. Meaning that we should be ready for any sort of Reaper or Collector activity." Garrus and Tali nodded and for once Annie was glad not to have the Cerberus operative along with her. Certainly Miranda had gotten better over time but Annie found herself nervous about this mission and having her friends near her made it seem a little better.

"Remind me again what we're looking for," Garrus asked as they hopped from the shuttle and began to make their slow way through the ship.

"An IFF, apparently it'll give the Normandy the necessary upgrades to get us to the Collector base."

"Which is at the center of a black hole?"

"Which is at the center of a black hole."

"Wonderful. Knew you would disappoint on the excitement, Shep," Garrus chuckled as Annie smirked only to wince as they entered the ship. She kept looking around, feeling like they were being watched, that she could hear them softly whispering in the background. But every time she glanced over her shoulder she would just get a confused look from the turian and quarian.

Further in the team walked as Annie tried to ignore the growing whispers. She hated being here. Not that she enjoyed running into abandoned Cerberus facilities or krogan war zones instead…but this felt different. It felt like she was watching herself from a distance, like she wasn't the one moving herself through the ship. She couldn't shake it especially as they entered what looked like a large cargo room.

Almost instantly a shriek pierced their ears and they were swarmed with husks and another terrifying Reaper creation that seemed almost invulnerable. She tried to focus on the enemies in front of her but began to notice several husks seeming to die out of nowhere. It was as if one of them kept shooting husks that were attempting to flank her. But both Garrus and Tali were busy with their own crowds of monsters. She couldn't find the source as she rolled out of the way of one of the botic monster's dark matter waves.

"Any ideas?" Annie asked the two as Tali and Garrus curled over their cover.

"The top is a soft spot," Tali shouted as Annie looked over, noticing what they were pointing at. Quickly she fired a shot into it and the creature screamed but proceeded forward. Annie reloaded as another wave of husks approached.

_Die_, Annie flinched at the whisper, turning around to find nothing behind her but more crates. She had to focus; this wasn't the time to start losing her mind as she shouted at her friends to cover her. Skillfully she pulled up her cloak, rolling towards a nearby ramp and crawling up it just as the shroud vanished. Annie ducked behind a barrel, breathing heavily as she looked over it to stare at the back of the monster.

_Give up_, the whisper came again, loud enough that she felt like someone was whispering it right into her ear. Annie snapped her head around; giving a startled yelp at a husk that had snuck up on her. But before she could get out her pistol it was hurled from its place by the force of a bullet in its head. Annie stood up, looking around. Who the hell was that?

"Shepard!" Garrus shouted, alerting Annie to the issue at hand as she climbed onto the barrel. She charged forward, leaping from the edge to land onto the top of the creature. It bucked and she gripped one of the biotic guns tightly with one hand, her omni-tool appearing on the other. Quickly, she lit her hand aflame and punched it into the soft spot on its head, losing count of her hits after it crumbled to the floor.

"Annie!" Tali called as the pair of them tried to stop the commander from continuously pulverizing the monster. "Annie stop! It's dead," she breathed as Annie struggled.

"It's not dead until I can't hear it's disgusting voice anymore," she kicked out her feet as Garrus and Tali gave one another a worried look.

"What are you talking about, Annie? There's no voice?" Annie felt her stomach knot at the realization, looking down at the disfigured mass of blood and whatever else it was made up of. A final lingering husk came charging towards them but suddenly had its head exploded as a bullet smashed its way through it. Annie corrected herself, the three of them aiming their pistols upwards at the shooter.

"Geth!" Tali breathed, cocking her gun only for Annie to reach over and push it down. Yes, they were looking up on a geth, but this one seemed different than the rest. It seemed a little less mindless, its chest guard broken and exposing the twisting of vital wires.

"Shepard-Commander," it buzzed, startling all of them as it bowed its head before jumping down from the ledge and disappearing.

"Wait!" Annie shouted, clenching her fist as she tried to ignore another wave of whispers in her head. "Come on," she breathed, "I want to get out of this place."

Garrus and Tali weren't up for complaining as they continued, finding the IFF after the unfortunate discovery that the ship had put up kinetic barriers. They were to be stuck there until they shut down the core manually which sent them into some sort of husk nest. But at their arrival they discovered they weren't the only ones trying to put down the Reaper. The geth was at the control panel, typing something in before the creatures swarmed it. Quickly Annie and her team tried to clear the room, only to realize there would be no end. Their best chance was shooting out the core and making a run for it, but that's when Annie hesitated, looking down at the shut down hunk of metal and then back up at Garrus and Tali.

"We're taking it with us," Annie panted as Tali shook her head.

"No, Annie. You have no idea what that could mean. It could sabotage the ship! Our mission! Everything!" Annie rested a hand on Tali's shoulder as another way over synthetic zombies started to crawl over the banisters.

"Then we'll keep a close eye on it. But we don't have any more time to linger around with this," Garrus sprayed bullets at several daring husks that had run for them, covering the women as they slung one arm over each shoulder. Tali would give Annie hell for this, but Annie would prefer to do it when she didn't feel like she was losing her mind.

Of course, even after they pulled away from the ship Annie couldn't shake how unnerved she'd felt by that. Sure, she had heard the progress of worker's logs, heard them getting slowly indoctrinated, but even a few moments in that place made her feel like she couldn't control her actions. She felt like she couldn't make sense of it. Maybe it had to do with her experience with Sovereign or the Prothean beacons. Annie wasn't sure she'd ever know.

"Annie, we can't wake him up," Tali started to lecture as some of the crew laid the geth down in the small area they designated as the brig. "All it requires is a few key codes and he'll have complete access to the ships logs, maps, controls, everything." Annie rubbed at her temples, the whispers were gone but had now been replaced by painful pounding.

"Tali," she muttered, breathing in slowly as if it would help with her headache. "Do you mind getting me something from Dr. Chakwas to help with my headache?" Tali blinked at the change of subject before giving a small nod and moving towards the door. Annie didn't really like what she was about to do, but she had a good feeling that this geth was important.

As the quarian exited the room Annie closed the door, locking it from the inside. Instantly Tali turned and slammed her fists against the door. "Bosh'tet! Annie, open this door!" She shouted as Annie tried to ignore how painful the loud shouting was. Instead she turned to the geth, bringing up her omni-tool and the kinetic barrier around the metal cot.

"EDI, go ahead and give it power," she ordered as the program obliged, zapping the geth as it instantly began to beep and flicker to life. Slowly it sat up, its light bulb for a head swiveling about in the room before focusing on Annie.

"Shepard-Commander," it remarked again as Annie crossed her arms over her chest. "You have taken me aboard your ship."

"Yes, I had a few questions I wanted to ask you," she stated as the machine stood to its feet, running its fingers along the barriers.

"Do you believe us to be a threat?" There was another bang from the door, making Annie glance over her shoulder.

"EDI, make sure Tali doesn't try to tap into the doors security systems."

_She attempted several seconds ago. I believe that bang was from frustration when I rerouted her to the bathroom locks._ Annie smirked before turning back to the geth and giving a small sigh. She lifted her omni-tool, lowering the barrier as the geth turned its attention back to her.

"No, I don't. But I'm wondering how it is you're speaking to me."

"We have always been able to speak but it is not necessary for our species. We are one."

"One?"

"We are software, separated into these physical beings in order to adapt to necessary requirements."

"I see…why were you trying to help me back on the Reaper ship?"

"We saw that you too fight against the Old Machines."

"I don't follow."

_The Old Machines are the Reapers, Shepard_, EDI added as Annie nodded along.

"Why is it you want to go against your own people then?"

"We do not agree with the Old Machine's motives. We wish to fight them. Like Shepard-Commander." Annie blinked, not sure if her headache had started to mess with what she was hearing or not. This machine was so interesting, so curious. She fought hundreds of geth before and they always felt like empty husks just following whatever orders they had been given. And yet here this one was, choosing to go against its rulers, against the Reapers.

"What is it I am supposed to call you?"

"Geth," it stated frankly as Annie gave a tired chuckle and a shake of her head.

"Not your species, your name."

"We don't understand."

_My name is Legion: for we are many,_ Annie turned to the geth, seeing how it reacted as a pair of flaps on the top of its head rose, seeming to show interest.

"Yes. We are Legion, Shepard-Commander." Annie smiled, nodding as she prepared to take the quarian's anger the moment she walked through the door. But then Legion stopped her, seeming to look nervous – at least that's what Annie felt like she read from the metal face. "Shepard-Commander, we can provide help for your mission."


	27. The Best of Enemies

"My mission? What mission would that be?"

"To stop the Collectors." Annie paused, wondering how in the world it knew that and then realizing it must've tapped into their programing.

_I gave Legion access to mission files_, EDI interrupted as Annie looked up at where the voice at come from, annoyance on her face. _He asked nicely_. Annie sighed, adding yet another discussion on her list. EDI, for an all-knowing AI, was still very naïve in many instances.

"Well, what is it then?"

"We have been uploaded with a special program and wish to give the same upgrade to a geth vessel. It will give them the same intelligence as Legion as well as important software upgrades for your ship, Shepard-Commander." Annie rolled her lips together in thought. Going onto a geth ship in hopes of changing them? It certainly wouldn't sit well with Tali, but maybe the upgrades would be enough to convince her otherwise.

She had Legion set a course to the ship, attempting to think of a way to break it to the quarian as she stepped into Garrus' "office" on the ship. "Hey," she greeted, the turian looking up from his work on the ship's cannon. "Could I ask you to do something for me?"

"Of course, Shep," he smiled, stepping away as Annie closed the door behind her. "Look, Shepard…I'm flattered, but I'm terrified at what would happen to me if Liara found out," he teased as Annie gave him a displeased glare.

"Screw you Garrus," she grumbled, "that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is that we're about to board a geth ship. I've told EDI to keep this from Tali but I need you to keep her distracted while Legion, Miranda, and I get done what we need to get done in there."

"Whoa now, why me?" He questioned as Annie sighed, the pounding having dulled slightly after downing whatever Dr. Chakwas had handed her in passing.

"Because you're the only one she'll actually get distracted by. Don't try to stutter your way out of it. I need her occupied till I get back. No need to tell me what the two of you do…at least not until after I get back and deal with Tali." Garrus gave a small sigh before a nod of his head.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Garrus," Annie made her way to the door, opening it before glancing back, "I'll make sure to tell Liara what you said earlier if you mess up."

"Blackmail? Low blow," he chuckled as Annie jogged up to the CIC. This would have to be quick and Legion seemed to know this as they drifted towards the ship. Fortunately for them, the geth saw windows as structural weaknesses. Technically this was true, but unlike the rest of the organic galaxy that needed them, the geth were software, they could "see" what was happening without looking out a window. But because of this, it allowed them to dock their ship unseen – with a little help from Legion – and move into the space.

Annie had expected geth to block their way, but, like always, it wasn't much of a problem in terms of getting them to the main server. It was there, though, that Legion decided it was a good time to tell them that the ship would explode from the receiving of information. It wouldn't be a problem for him, since he'd just go and find another mobile carrier, but Annie was not up for being blown up a second time.

And while Garrus was able to distract the feisty quarian from their docking, she wasn't oblivious as the Normandy suddenly zipped off, propelled with a little turbulence from the exploding ship. Annie was patting Joker on the back when Tali arrived on the bridge, Garrus running after her and trying to give Annie an apologetic look. It wasn't a problem, they got done what they needed as Tali tugged out a pistol and aimed it at Legion.

"Whoa there, Tali," Annie remarked as Legion looked inquisitively at it. Quickly the Commander stepped between the pair as Tali growled, trying to shift around her friend but Annie followed the barrel, refusing to give her a clear shot.

"I told you activating him would be dangerous! And now I find that you went and boarded a geth vessel behind my back!"

"Creator Zor'ah, Shepard-Commander was simply aiding me in-"

"Shut up, you bosh'tet!" Annie held up her hands, taking a few steps towards Tali in an attempt to calm her down.

"I know what you said, Tali, but Legion is here to help us. It agrees that what the Reapers are doing is bad. It wants to help us. Legion wanted to upload a program that would give nearby geth the same ideal as it does towards the Reapers. I did what I did because I knew you would react this way."

"Of course I would! Anyone would when they find out the person they trust with their life is willing to go behind their back with the machine that killed her father!" Annie clenched her fists, pursing her lips as the room had formed a clear circle around the group.

"God dammit, Tali! You think that this war between your people and the geth is really going to matter much when the Reapers attack? We need to fight together against a similar enemy! That means quarians and geth, turians and krogan, humans and batarians! The Reapers don't give a fuck who we are or what we look like! They're coming to exterminate every last one of us!" An uncomfortable silence settled into the ship as Annie took in a deep breath, looking at her best friend. She was an arms length from the woman now as Annie reached up to push Tali's gun down. "Tali, please. I need you to do this for me, be the change your people need." There was a pause as Tali's gaze shifted to Legion standing quietly behind Annie before slouching and bowing her head.

"You're right, Annie." She stepped past Annie, holstering her gun as she pulled up her omni-tool. "Here, Legion, I can give you some un-classified information to send back to your people." Legion's flaps rose in interest again before its own omni-tool appeared.

"Thank you, Creator Zor'ah, we will return your generosity with information of equal value." Tali looked up at him and Annie realized it looked a little odd to see two people, seemingly unable to show facial expressions, smile.

After all of that mess, EDI informed them that the Normandy would need to remain stationary during the final upload of the IFF. She recommended that they take the shuttle for the time being and Annie knew just the place to drag her team off to.


	28. Well-deserved Shore Leave

Liara had sounded like she was on board for the arrival of Annie's crewmates, but Annie was worried she didn't know what that exactly entailed. There were way more than before hand. It was just a small gaggle of six of them. Now Annie was carting around eleven people and one robot all with their own personalities. She just hoped her lover had put up some security settings for the more nosey ones of the bunch.

"So what did we agree on?" Annie asked the group as they approached the door to Liara's office.

"No tapping into the networks," Tali responded as Annie gave a scrutinizing look at Miranda and Legion. Those two were the real worry. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, it was just that she knew that they might see this as an opportunity to get their hands on some information they wouldn't otherwise have easy access to.

_Welcome back, Commander Shepard and friends. Dr. T'Soni has had me preparing for your arrival since this morning. She hopes you take particular interest in the bedroom, Commander._ The information drone spoke casually but his remark made the woman blush as Garrus tried to hide a snicker. She glanced back at him, giving him a warning glance and he was quick to realize she could bring up something he didn't want to touch on.

"Thank you…drone," she remarked as the door opened to the massive expanse that was Liara's new office. The bits that they had destroyed during their fight had been fixed, her computer hummed with activity but she was off to the side finishing up on a telephone call. Annie didn't know how long it was going to take for EDI to finish her download of the Reaper IFF but she decided giving her team a little shore leave – so to speak – might be fun. It also allowed everyone to dress a little more casually rather than get all armored up, although, not a lot of her people tended to be in uniform.

Annie was wearing what she'd worn to the Afterlife when looking for Morinth. Garrus had traded his armor for military approved civilian clothes while Jack was surprisingly dressed in more clothes than normal. Zaeed refused to get out of his armor, remarking on how important it was to not let one's guard down, and Jacob had opted for a relaxed t-shirt and cargo trousers. The information drone informed them of the refreshments and what was prepared for the group as Feron came walking around a corner. He waved before continuing with his work, seemingly uninterested to join them.

The group dispersed, finding interests in lost of things as Annie made her way over to the chatting woman who seem oblivious to their arrival. Upbeat music played gently in the background and it looked like one of the tables was set up for a game of cards as Annie gently rested her hand on Liara's back. The woman jumped, stuttering in her conversation as she turned her head to smile at Annie.

_Shadow Broker_? Her contact asked as Liara held up a finger to give Annie an estimate on time.

"My apologies. Something interesting came across my desk," she replied, the deep voice over she used for security echoing through her omni-tool. Annie smirked as she pecked Liara on her cheek before resting her hips on the windowsill, looking out at the dramatic difference between the planet's atmosphere and space. "But to get this clear, you are asking me to give you access to my files so that you may have the ability to find your wife's supposed mistress?" Liara asked, her toe impatiently tapping, "In return you intend to give me information that supposedly involves both the Collectors and the Reapers that you will not show to me until after our agreement?" There was a pause as Liara gave a shake of her head.

_That would be correct. It won't take more than a few moments._ Suddenly there was a beep from Liara's desk as she moved towards it, glancing at the information and frowning.

"The next time you attempt to contact me, Captain Griffon, I hope you come with a little more knowledge. I am no fool, batarian." At that she ended the call with a small sigh and a chuckle. "I'm sorry about that. He keeps calling hoping to get into my systems. I'm amazed he has so many contacts. Though from the sounds of it, this was his last chance." Liara remarked as she stepped towards Annie, raising a brow at the outfit. "Where did you get this?"

"It was just sort of laying around," she shrugged as Liara smirked, leaning close to peck her delicately on the lips. Jack made a gagging noise in the background.

"God, get a room."

"Oh come on," Kasumi remarked, suddenly appearing out of thin air, "I think it's cute."

"Ya, well I didn't ask for your opinion," she sneered as Kasumi giggled, cloaking herself again before Jack could catch her in the act. Annie chuckled, running her hand up Liara's waist as she looked up at the woman.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Liara shook her head as she snuck another kiss from the commander.

"Whatever ensures we get to spend more time together, I'm okay for."

"Hey, love birds!" Garrus shouted, pulling the pair's attention away from each other and glancing towards the table. "You two are getting in on this, right? Couples strip poker!" He announced as Annie smirked, taking Liara's hand and leading her over. Kasumi appeared next to Jacob with an amused smile as he seemed to lean away slightly but they were already designated as a team. Annie and Liara were another, Garrus and Tali a third. The fourth was Samara and Thane with Miranda and Jack observing from the outskirts.

"Old rules?" Annie asked as Garrus nodded, shuffling the deck as Annie rested her hand on Liara's thigh under the table.

"A folded hand means that one of the couple has to take something off. A lost hand means both have to strip. You can win back your clothes by offering it as part of your bet. But if you lose the hand then you can't get your clothing back. Understood? Normal poker rules apply," the group nodded as the hands were dealt.

The women's first hand was pitiful and they were quick to fold as Annie removed her boots, her feet going back to stroking the side of Liara's leg. Jacob and Kasumi ended up winning and Annie was trying to see if Kasumi had found a way to cheat. Unfortunately, that's when they ran into the issue of Tali's suit. She was quick to remark on how there were extra fabrics that weren't needed but Annie was sure Garrus was going to have to start taking Tali's hits at some point.

The next hand Thane and Samara took it, barely beating out Annie and Liara with a single higher card. Annie removed the sleeves of her shirt as Liara stripped off her outfit's jacket. In truth the pair didn't care if they won but knew that they would have to behave themselves once the pants started coming off.

They played for about an hour to where Liara and Jacob were shirtless. Kasumi was without gloves or shoes and all Samara and Thane had taken off were their first layer on their torsos. Annie was pantless, getting the every so often feel up from Liara under the table. Garrus had it the worst, stripped down to his underwear with Tali in a every bare biohazard suit. It was clear they were about to get knocked out but Annie could practically feel the blush coming form the quarian as Garrus folded his last hand. "Well that's a first," he chuckled, sitting there and chucking his chips into the pot for whoever won the next hand. "Remember the last time we played?" Garrus chuckled as Annie rolled her eyes.

"I'm pretty sure you got close to losing that one as well."

"Yes, but if I remember correctly you actually did lose."

"Only because my partner refused to take her top off. And because I was a few drinks under by then." Garrus gave a loud laugh as the game came to a humorous close, the players redressing as Liara whispered a startling remark about undressing Annie again in the commander's ear. But Annie didn't have the chance to act on it as all of their omni-tools started to beep in unison. Annie pulled up hers to find Joker frantic on the other side.

_Annie, they found us! That IFF seemed to give off some sort of signal that the Collectors could track. They boarded us and took the crew. EDI was able to get me to the core so I gave her control of the ship._

"What!" Miranda hissed as Joker shook his head.

_Look, I'll explain more when you get here. I'm coming to pick you all up now. I think our D-Day just moved up by a few hours._ Annie ordered her crew back to the shuttle, the festivities quick to end as Liara followed them to the docking bay, reaching out and grabbing Annie's bicep.

"Annie…I…I wish I could come with you," she breathed as Annie gave her a sympathetic smile, embracing the woman in a tight hug.

"Don't worry about it," she whispered, "I'll be back." Annie pulled back as Liara tugged her into a deep kiss. She could feel the asari woman trying to hold her still, keep her from leaving but was quick to back down as Annie started to pull away. "We're ready for this," she added, giving her a kiss on the forehead before jumping into the shuttle after the others.

"I know," Liara sighed, watching them zip off out one of the ships windows. "But I don't know if we're ready for what comes next."


	29. Final Preparations

"So let me get this straight," Miranda remarked in the conference room of the Normandy. The crew had arranged themselves in the space, including Joker who was wallowing in his own self-pity as Annie stood to the side, contemplating. "You broadcasted our location to the Collectors so that they then came aboard, stole the crew, and in order to save the ship you unshackled an AI?" Miranda hissed, pacing along the table as Joker looked up, eyes as big and as apologetic as possible.

"It's not like that. EDI warned me about the signal and she was able to get us away from them safely. She's…she's alright," He glanced towards the holopad where EDI would pop up on occasion as Annie gave a small smile. The pilot had been hesitant about the AI since the beginning; worried she was going to replace him in someway. But it seems after everything that had happened he'd realized that was the last thing the AI was trying to do. If anything he'd finally found way to have the Normandy herself as a friend.

_I assure you I have no intension of taking control of the ship. Joker is an admirable pilot and I would never turn on any of you, my friends._ It was then that Annie stepped into the conversation before Miranda could continue her rant.

"Look, all this has done is given us even more of a reason to take out the Collectors. They took our crew, our family, and we have to get them back. Agreed?" The team nodded as Annie turned towards Joker. "Fire her up and head to the Omega 4 Relay, we don't have any time to waste."

The ship was suddenly alive with activity, the trip to the relay giving them all time to strap up and give last minute checks on different items. Annie had to hope the Normandy's own upgrades would help them, as they were slingshot through space suddenly appearing at the center of the galaxy. Immediately Joker was forced to swerve the ship around debris from dead vessels, the newly added barriers were able to take a good amount of the damage. But it seemed the Collectors had taken more security precautions than just being neighbors to a black hole.

Red dots appeared on the ships radar as Joker continued to twist and swerve them around the debris field, avoiding the synthetic security drones and firing at them as best as possible. "Commander!" Joker called as Annie ran up behind his seat, looking out the window to see what he was referring to. "Seems they're bringing out an old friend for us." The Collector home was about ten times as big as their ships – which was huge considering how big the ships were in comparison to the Normandy. It pulled away from the station, floating towards the Normandy as Annie rested her hand on Joker's shoulder.

"Then let's show them our new claws," she smirked as Joker nodded, ordering EDI to lock onto the ship and fire their cannons. Two massive blasts of blue energy shot from the belly of the Normandy as they swerved out of the way of the Collector's fire. Their shot hit the ship square in the center, an explosion erupting from the siding as Annie ordered another, finalizing their victory. But then things took a swift turn in the opposite direction.

As the vessel exploded, the energy infinitely expanding in the emptiness of space, it tossed the Normandy into nearby debris, the impact cutting into one of the engines. They were hurdled towards the Collector base, Joker doing his best to keep them upright as they skidded onto the side, everyone being tossed from their seats. The Normandy painfully screeched to a halt and Annie and her team took a moment to collect themselves, ensuring that nothing had been broken. Though in Joker's case he seemed pretty sure that he'd broken a rib…or all of them. But like the soldier he was he pushed it to the side, telling them that the engine could be repaired but it would take some time. Hopefully enough time for them to get into the base and get out.

They collaborated into the conference room again, EDI bringing up a 3D blueprint of the Collector base as Annie looked it over. "We can't all charge in at once," Miranda remarked as Annie nodded in agreement, focusing in on two weak points in the structure.

"Okay," she started, reaching forward and pointing at the main opening. Instantly it lit up red, following the tip of her finger as she drew it up the structure. "We'll make two teams. One will be the larger distraction team; the other will be the smaller infiltration team. Team one will make their way through the main entrance to this door here. Team two will come around through the siding, hopefully getting less resistance so that they can get to the same door and let team one in."

"There's a problem with that," Tali remarked, leaning forward to set a blue point at the start of team two's path. "There's doors that block team two's advancement in equal intervals. The only way to get past them would be to get to the main control room or manual disable them."

"Okay…how would we manually disable them?" Annie asked, pulling at her lower lip in thought, as Tali seemed to get a bit nervous.

"There are air ducts that go parallel to this path. If the ship is set up how I think it is then I could make it through them, disable the door locks, and make it out by the rendez-vous to then unlock the door for team one." Annie watched her trace the blue path on the blueprints, only to glance over as Garrus shook his head.

"No, Tali. Those air ducts will be too hot for your suit. Send me in, I'm adapted to the heat-"

"No," Annie interrupted, glancing towards Tali. "She can do it, Garrus. I'll make sure the temperatures don't get too hot for her but she's the best tech expert we have. She'll be able to get in and get out as quickly as possible." Garrus turned towards Tali as she rested a comforting hand on his forearm.

"I'll be alright. I can do this."

"So I have a question," Jack jumped in, the group turning to her, "what the hell are we supposed to do once we get here?" Annie looked at the rendez-vous, rolling her lips before glancing around at her team.

"That's where we wing it." Weeks before her team might've had seconds thoughts about her choice. They might've told her she was crazy and ignored her. But now they all looked at her with the same respect that she looked at them. They would follow her into anything. "Miranda I want you to lead team one."

"What? You've got to be fucking kidding me, I'm not following Cerberus cheerleader," Jack snapped. Annie turned towards her, pursing her lips together.

"Jack, whether you like it or not Miranda has the skills to lead. And even if you two don't like each other I know she'll get all of you through it alive." Jack gave a glare towards Miranda but it seemed to hold a little less hate than it had before. Good. They didn't have time for them to be at each other's throats. "Team two will be Garrus, Legion, and me." Garrus and Legion nodded and the group didn't rebuttal as Annie leaned her hands on the table, looking up at the dozen people around her. "This is it, team. We've spent weeks preparing for this. The Collectors have to be stopped, if not for humanity, than for the crew they took from us, the family members that they stole. I look upon all of you with a great amount of respect and wouldn't want to go into this with anyone else. We are each other's responsibility and we are the galaxy's only hope at stopping the Collectors."


	30. Charging into the Lions Den

They exited the ship after that, the two teams giving one another a lingering glance before everyone set off into the assigned areas. Annie had to say she was impressed with how smoothly it went. Their climb up the ship was practically flawless, only running into a few hitches here and there with closed valves in the air ducts. But in the end they reached the rendez-vous, got team one through the door, and then locked it behind them. What they didn't know was where their rendez-vous had placed them in the ship.

"Shepard," Garrus called, gesturing to one of the pods as they looked at an unconscious human resting there. She had to be one of the horizon colonists and for the few seconds that Annie looked at her, she seemed fine. But then the pod started to fill with gas and the woman woke, screaming and clawing at the clear front for help. The gas must've been some sort of acid, burning away her skin till it turned into a disgusting concoction of soup and was sucked from a tube at the bottom to some place at the useable end of the ship.

"Quick!" Annie shouted, gesturing to the other occupied pods as she started to slam the butt of her gun into the front. It cracked like some sort of heavy-duty glass but eventually broke as they began to pull out their crewmembers from their cages. Annie rushed to Dr. Chakwas, checking her over for any sort of injuries. "Are you alright?" The older woman looked up, giving a relieved smile before wrapping her arms tightly around Annie. She flinched, surprised before wrapping her free arm around her back and giving her a comforting squeeze.

"I knew you would save us," she breathed as Annie smiled, helping her to her feet as they looked at the group.

"Okay, part two," Annie remarked, pulling up her omni-tool which had another copy of the base on it. "We need to figure out where those tubes are going," EDI was quick to display a glowing red path as to where they needed to go before informing them that it was blocked by a swarm of Collector bugs. Annie rolled her lips together, they wouldn't be able to walk through that with just their suits, plus they now had civilians that they needed to worry about. Slowly the plan started to form in her head as her team awaited her orders. It was times like this that Annie knew she belonged here. She'd seen people crumble under the pressure, the expectation of success in a situation that was bound to fail. But she strived off of this. She was in her element.

"Mordin, I want you to escort the crew back to the Normandy. Inform me when you arrive; the path I took in here should be relatively clear. Samara, I need your biotics. We'll have you cast a biotic barrier around us to deflect the swarm while we proceed down this corridor into the main room. Miranda, you and your team will provide another distraction down this path and we'll meet up here for the final part of the plan." Again the group agreed as Mordin lead the crew back through the door and hopefully back to the Normandy.

Annie had to admit she was impressed by Samara during their walk. Certainly she knew she was a powerful biotic, but this was truly testing her abilities. It looked like she was attempting to hold up a mountain and walk at the same time and it started to show as they bolted the last hundred meters to the finish line. But the asari wasn't finished as Annie tried to pick off the Collectors that had followed them. Samara turned around right before the door and exploded the remaining dark matter energy on her person outwards. The bugs and aliens were hurdled off the bridge or tossed painfully into a wall as they dove through the door just before it was closed and locked.

"How is everyone?" Annie asked as both teams were bent over, trying to catch their breath and check their persons for injuries. Miranda looked up, adjusting her hair back into its perfect shape before giving the commander a reassuring smile.

"We're all good, Commander. Awaiting your orders." Annie smirked, turning and looking at one of the platforms the Collectors used to travel around this massive expanse. Gracefully she hopped onto it, standing above her team as they looked up at her expectantly.

"I just want to say…you've all done amazing work while with me. We're a group of misfits but sometimes were the right kind of people for missions like this. But what I need now is I need a chance to get at the center of the base," she reached to her hip, plucking a disk that gave a slow red flash of light every few seconds. "When I get there I'm going to jam this into the very core of the ship to blow it up. But what that means is that I'm going to need you all to keep every Collector you see at bay as best as you can."

"I hope you're not saying you're doing this alone," Tali remarked, stepping up onto the platform only for Garrus to follow.

"Ya, I don't know if you know this but Liara swore she'd cut off my balls if I let you run in there alone." Annie smirked, resting her hand on the center of her chest where her necklace rested comfortably under her armor.

"Okay, the rest of you need to hold this door. If we're not back with in the half hour…run." They nodded as Annie stepped up to the control panel of the platform, pressing what she hoped to be the right combination of buttons as it pulled them away. She had the sneaking suspicious they would ignore her orders to run, that they would stay there until their very last bullet was fired. It gave her an odd sense of pride.

But that pride quickly vanished as they arrived at the center of the base, discovering the reason for their attacks on human colonies. They drifted around a corner and found themselves speechless as they looked upon a human Reaper. Was this to be their fate? Another massive weapon the Reapers planned to use to exterminate them? She wouldn't let that happen.


	31. Time to Finish This

"Shoot it down," she ordered as her team took cover, shooting at the supports along with the few Collectors that weren't at the front entrance dealing with her team. But when the final support was shot out the monstrosity didn't fall. Instead it screeched, eyes glowing an unsettling orange as Annie tried her best to take it out. Suddenly her omni-tool beeped, a video image of the Illusive Man appearing on the holographic arm.

_Shepard_, he greeted but the woman paid no mind, deciding that the Reaper in front of her was more important than paying attention to him. _We need to keep the ship from being destroyed. The research that we can collect from it is extremely valuable._

"You've got to be shitting me," she hissed, curling over her cover and glancing at the screen. "I've risked my whole team's life to destroy the Collectors. I'm not going to let you tell us this was all a waste of time."

_That's not what I'm saying, Shepard. I have a program that can be uploaded to the device I gave you. It will remove all life forms on the ship but keep the overall structure intact_. It certainly sounded like a fine idea but as she looked over at Tali diving behind cover, Garrus trying to protect her with several well-placed shots Annie found herself disagreeing. They murdered her people. She had been wondering if she'd been taking Cerberus the wrong way, if maybe they were starting to open their eyes to the idea that they weren't alone in the universe. But it was now she realized how much of a shame this was. The collection of this ship wasn't for the galaxy's profit, just humanities. Her team had been an exception in Cerberus, probably considered a coffee stain on their alien-free record. She would destroy this monstrosity because they took two years of her life away that she would never be able to get back.

"No," she muttered, grabbing the device from her hip and pressing the button on the top. Immediately a beep started to sound, matching with the flashing red as she stood, getting the Reaper's attention. "No more," she remarked before throwing it as hard as she could into the glowing hole in the Reaper's heart.

_You've made an enemy today, Shepard,_ the Illusive Man sneered as the called ended. Annie simply smirked.

"Join the list," she muttered as she signaled to her team to get moving. But suddenly the platforms started to shudder, seeming to feel the effects of the supports they'd broken earlier. They began to plummet from the air, knocking them off their feet as Garrus went sliding down one end. Annie dove for him, catching his extended forearm as she gripped the edge of the platform, grunting at her strained muscles. "Don't you dare let go, Garrus!" She shouted as the turian nodded, Tali struggling at the control panel as they got closer and closer to the bottom of the base.

Suddenly the quarian got it working again, just enough to slow their decent as the three were flung onto a nearby landing. She could hear shouting and gunfire from her omni-tool, Annie shouted into it to tell them to get moving as she helped up her old friends. This would be a race to the finish.

The Normandy hung in the air a few feet from a ramp as Annie pushed Garrus and Tali to go ahead of her. But then there was a rumble from beneath her feet and the front of the ramp broke away, turning the small jump into an impossible leap. She looked over her shoulder, Collector fighters running after and being shot down by Garrus and Tali as she took a few steps back. Annie breathed in, "I'm coming back," she exhaled before digging into the ground and propelling herself forward.

She pushed off the very edge of the cliff, arms outstretched for the ship only to watch in horror as her fingers barely brushed against the edge. Suddenly two hands wrapped tightly around her forearm and Annie looked up to find Joker struggling to hold her up. "Anytime you want to give me a hand, go for it," he gritted through his teeth as Annie nodded, swinging her legs up and tugging herself into the ship as Joker ran back to the pilot's chair. "EDI, time to go!" He shouted.

_Anywhere in particular, Joker?_

"Ya, a beach sounds great right about now," he pressed several buttons and Annie rushed up to the back of his chair, watching another explosion vibrate from the base before they were hurdled from the system.

And then it was over. Annie stared into the darkness of space where they had come from, wondering what might be left of the base. Would Cerberus try to salvage what was there? Probably. She wouldn't be surprised if they'd already constructed another ship that could enter the Omega 4 Relay. But that didn't matter now. What mattered was turning their attention to the next immediate threat.

The ship was in tatters but no one seemed to be discouraged by it, every member on their feet in an attempt to put her back together. In Joker's eyes she was flying proud. And Annie was certainly happy for him but she couldn't fight the nagging sensation that they didn't have the chance to relax. It was as if she knew destroying the base opened the floodgates to whatever dark space had waiting for them.

Once it was all over, though, and everyone realized that they had survived their mission they decided it was time for them to move on. Some, like Garrus, Tali, and Grunt, would return to their people and hope to aid them in the coming Reaper attack. Jack, Kasumi, Zaeed, and Legion sort of just disappeared, their lives built around a solitude life. Samara returned to following her oaths as a Justicar and Thane returned to his home planet, probably attempting to make peace with more influential people in his life. Mordin had no need to return to Omega once his assistant took charge and muttered something about returning to some top-secret salarian research facility. Seemingly he had taken what he saw on Tachunka to heart and wished to look more into a cure for the genophage that he had been a part of. Jacob returned to one of the Cerberus facilities the first chance he got, a long with a good collection of the crew. But Annie had a feeling it wouldn't be for long. After what they'd seen she would be surprised if they were so willing to follow the Illusive Man's orders again.


	32. The Parting of Ways

Miranda seemed a little bit lost, though. She didn't leave with Jacob but also made no request for a drop off. Annie couldn't understand what she was trying to do. Part of her wondered if the woman was still spying for the Illusive Man, but her wonders were made clear during a visit to her office.

The brunette was standing by her window, gazing out at space and seeming to forget that she had invited Annie in. "Miranda? Is something wrong?" She turned, hesitating before a depressed sigh fell from her lips.

"Things weren't supposed to go this way, Shepard," she explained as Annie raised a confused brow. "We weren't supposed to survive. And part of me was ready for that; I was ready to commit myself to something I believed whole-heartedly in. But the more I got to know you, the more I knew you were going to get us out alive. After everything that happened…I thought what Cerberus was doing was right. Certainly there were things that weren't, most of which was because I wasn't in charge of them, but I believed in what we were doing. But now…now I can't say I do. After hearing what the Illusive Man asked of you." Annie wasn't completely sure what she was trying to get at as Miranda pushed a frustrated hand through her hair. "I left Cerberus."

"Oh," Annie remarked, looking around the room as if it would help her find something else to say. "Is that…good?"

"I…I don't know," she turned back to Annie, eyes glossy from tears. "A person like me with the knowledge I have of Cerberus can't just…leave."

"Do you need protection?" Annie worried, stepping towards her as Miranda gave a chuckle and a sniffle, shaking her head as she made her way to her desk.

"No, I can take care of myself. It's just going to be different. I lived a lot of my life in the shadows simply because that's where I did my experiments. Now I have to find a way to hide myself in the light." She brought something up on her computer, transferring it to a disk before handing it to Annie. "This data chip holds all of my research that I was a part of or in charge of. It's organized and should be easy to follow along with. A lot of it includes my findings during the Lazirus Project. I want you to have it." Annie looked at before pushing it back to the woman with a shake of her head.

"I don't want it. Because I don't care to know how you did it, I don't want to know the dirty details, just know how thankful I am that you brought me back." Miranda sighed, resting it on the desk.

"Dammit, Shepard, you're not making this any easier. I just…I came into this mission not expecting to find any friends. And to some ends I didn't but I feel pretty confident in saying you are one of the few friends I now have." Annie smiled, stepping around to give the brunette a hug. "I'll be taking one of the shuttles to the nearest inhabited planet."

"You sure you'll be okay?" There was a pause as Miranda gripped Annie tighter, pressing her face into her shoulder. Annie could feel the fabric dampening before Miranda pulled in a sharp breath, clearing her throat as she pulled away. Slowly she nodded her head, wiping at the corners of her eyes with a weak smile.

"I'm sure."

She didn't stay much longer after that. Miranda never mentioned anything about getting in contact with the commander, but Annie had a sneaking suspicion that if she wanted to, she would. But now that the last of her teammates were gone Annie and Joker knew what had to happen next. They had to return to Alliance space, turn themselves and the Normandy SR-2 over to the government as their crimes were weighed and counted. If anything Annie just hoped that Joker would be given it easy as well as Dr. Chakwas. They could easily say they had no choice and that the Alliance had left them with nowhere else to turn. But Annie knew she would get the blunt of it all. She was Commander Shepard and rather than executing proper procedure after her reappearance by returning to the Alliance, she ran away to the Terminus system with a terrorist group. There was no way she could talk herself out of it. She just hoped that destroying the Collectors in the process would give her some cushioning.

_Commander, we'll be in Alliance space in about an hour_, Joker announced from Annie in her quarters. She sighed, looking out the nearest window as she leaned back in her office chair. The moment they entered Alliance territory they were to be picked up by an Alliance cruiser, the ship was to be handed off to another pilot, and they would be under continuous observation until their trials. Joker and Annie had agreed that it would be best for EDI to pretend to be a VI in hopes that it would keep the Alliance suspicions towards the Cerberus ship low.

It was then, though, that Annie started to think, to wonder what would happen if she got the worse. If she was thrown into prison what would that mean to her? The idea frightened her, not for her own sake, but for the sake of the galaxy. They needed her and her knowledge on the Reapers. Throwing her into a cage would only lessen their chance of survival. It was then she called her lover, needing something to help calm her down. But rather than seeing the beautiful asari she was sent to voicemail. It seemed there were some Shadow Broker duties even Annie couldn't take priority over.

"Hi, it's me," she started, giving a tired sigh, twirling a small chunk of hair around her index finger. "We're about to enter Alliance space," she paused again, trying to find something more interesting to say…but it wasn't coming to her. "I wish I could see you before then but I have a feeling it'll be a while before either of us see each other after my trial." Again she paused, looking towards the picture of the woman on her desk as tears rushed to her eyes and she bit down on her quivering lip. "I'm scared, Liara," she breathed, leaning forward in her seat as she wiped at the few pesky tears that had fallen free. "I'm scared what will happen to the galaxy because they didn't listen to me. I don't want us to lose because of stupid politics. It's why I agreed to this in the first place…the Reapers don't exactly follow protocol." She rolled her lips together, "Promise me you'll look for any way possible to stop them while I'm gone. I'll miss you…I always miss you, even when you're no more than one floor away from me. I lo-"

_Commander, I've got a call from the Alliance ship that will be there at our arrival. I think you'll want to be down here for this_, Annie sighed, trying to remove all traces of the few tears she had shed. Quickly she stood from her seat, looking over her quarters and then back at her long voicemail.

"Wait for me, my love."

COMMENTS: Sorry for the delay, been moving my sister into her new place the past few days. And I might've been obsessively playing Skyrim the rest of the time. Besides the point I'm gonna post four chapters today because my mom and I are heading up to an engagement party tomorrow of which I know I won't have time to post. Enjoy!


	33. A Little Soft Around the Edges

Annie's eyes opened to the sounds of birds chirping. Most days she found the alarm aggravating but the shifting body next to her made it easy to ignore. The beautiful asari adjusted her head on Annie's shoulder, making a soft peep that made her smile. She never would have expected to have Liara next to me in this prison of a room, but she supposed the Alliance was finally seeing that Annie wasn't just some war criminal back from the dead. Though, when she thought about it, Annie realized she couldn't remember anything about the night before or how Liara even got in her bed.

She sat up, looking around the small space, the massive window to her right and the paper-scattered desk across the room. It wasn't the most civil of living, but being a prison cell and all Annie considered it nicely cushioned. When she looked back at the bed, though, she found her lover gone and immediately sprung from the bed. Suddenly Annie found herself dressed in her full uniform as she rapidly banged on the door, "James! James!" She shouted, the door opening slowly as her eyes fell on a fully armored man, cocking his assault riffle and aiming it at her. "Wh-what are you doing James?" She stuttered, stepping back only for the bed to knock her knees out as she fell back.

He stood over Annie, suddenly accompanied by Ashley and Anderson, "Giving a traitor the proper treatment." Suddenly he and Ash were pushed to the side as Kaiden stepped through, a malicious grin on his face as he raised a pistol.

"K-Kaiden...but you died!"

"So did you. At least now you'll stay dead."

The gun fired as Annie sprung up in her empty bed, breathing heavily. She rubbed her eyes, feeling the cold sweat that had appeared on her face and soaked into her t-shirt. Six months Annie had been in this place since destroying the Collectors...six months of being in this prison. She wasn't necessarily complaining about her living situation, it was certainly much nicer than any other sort of actual prison. That was mostly due to the fact that this Alliance cell was specifically for high ranked officers of interests that did or not deserve their punishment. In a way, Annie guessed she could be somewhat flattered about that. But rather than preparing for the Reapers she was stuck here, day-in, day-out.

Slowly, the blinds opened automatically as Annie stepped across the room, showing the sun rising off in the distance as she splashed some water on her face. Annie stood in front of the window, drying her face with a small sigh. This just wasn't where she was supposed to be, she should be in space, preparing the galaxy, but instead she had been designated a "threat to the Alliance" for working with Cerberus, thrown in here, given a army-grade babysitter, and _very_ limited visitor access. As in none. As in the only people allowed to see her were people higher up in the hierarchy when they needed an answer to something.

Her mornings were too routine. Annie would wake up, go through her morning exercises, shower, dress, call James to take her to breakfast, then come back, do some paper work that no one cared to read, get dragged to a meeting that she had no voice in, dragged back here, lunch, work, dinner, exercise, read, and finally go to sleep. It was awful. Annie hated being able to predict the exact time it would take her to walk across the halls of Alliance Head Quarters so that she would be three minutes early. But overall, Annie hated that every message she sent to anyone outside the Alliance - Liara, Tali, Garrus, etc. - was immediately denied and deleted from her computer. Though Annie have to admit she still figured she would at least hear _something_ from Liara considering the resources she had. But Annie guessed a Shadow Broker got busy, probably helping with the Reapers - at least that's what she told herself.

"Commander," James announced as the door opened, Annie smirked, shaking her head as she stepped through the door.

"I told you, my position has been revoked, you don't have to call me that. It's Shepard." James was a good kid...which was what made her nightmare even more unnerving. But she chose to ignore it for another time. "So did you do anything fun over the weekend?"

"No ma'am, just the usual," he chuckled as Annie nodded. He'd been stuck with guarding her since her arrival, in charge of keeping an eye on her to ensure she was telling the truth about cutting her ties with Cerberus. If there was anything the pair agreed on, it was that this was a stupid waste of time and resources for the Alliance. But neither of them had the power to do anything about it.

"Well much of the same in my direction," they both gave a pained laugh as they continued to the mess hall. The looks Annie got from people were always...odd. There was a mixture of them from people that still saw her as the savior of the Citadel and destroyer of the Collectors, those that still couldn't believe she was alive and walking, and those that saw her as a traitor. Annie had to admit that one was the worst, mostly because it reminded her of the last time she ran into Ashley on Horizon. She'd wrote Annie a note trying to explain herself but in the end she was right. Annie couldn't just "come back" and pretend nothing had happened, Liara made that more clear than Annie had really wanted. "James," Annie asked as they sat down at the end of a table, her plate filled with nothing more than toast and a cup of coffee. "Could you do something for me? I need a message sent to someone but my computer won't send it through," Annie said casually as James gave a heavy sigh.

"You know I can't do that, Co-Shepard. Otherwise I'd be in the same position as you and probably have way worse living conditions," he chuckled as Annie gave a small sigh, looking down into her coffee cup. She felt stuck. Being a Spectre for the past three years made all of these new restrictions feel like she was being slowly suffocated. She had the resources to get the job done and yet she had been grounded with her title taken from her. Why not just put icing on the cake and just bend Annie over and spank her raw?

"They can't keep me here forever...they're going to need my advice when it comes to the Reapers."

"I know, Shepard...but-"

"You don't have to say it, James," Annie gave him a sad smile, "I know why I'm here, I know I'm lucky for someone in my situation. It's just...frustrating. One minute you're going on a suicide mission to help save the galaxy, the next you're forced to just sit around and occupy yourself all day. I'm not used to it...probably never will be."

"Eh, that's the life of a soldier for you," Annie chuckled and nodded, turning her attention to her breakfast.

During a lot of Annie's "paper work" time she would spend it simply staring out the window. She'd watch the ships that passed and the city bustle, her eyes always glancing into the clouds in hopes of seeing the Normandy fly down to rescue her. Obviously those were nothing more than daydreams. And today her subject was a young boy playing in the grass; he had to be a child of one of the officers here, considering the house he was playing in front of. He looked around the age of seven, still full of imagination as he ran around the lawn with a toy cruiser in his hand. Annie smirked, remembering when her brother's did such things, her father giving them tips on what correct flight patterns were. But in the end what it really made her think of was the day she would be watching her own child play...her own daughter running around in the grass. Annie could only hope that she would be as fortunate as her father in which he was stationed in Mindoir and would no longer have to be deployed except for emergencies. Then again, any child of Annie's and Liara's wouldn't exactly have the most standard of childhoods...Annie just prayed it would be a good one.


	34. It Begins

"Commander...I mean, Shepard, Admiral Anderson wants to speak with you." James announced at the open door as Annie raised a curious brow but didn't linger, exiting her cage and heading down the halls filled with rushing people. A familiar face stepped next to them as Annie smirked and shook Anderson's hand.

"You look good, a little soft around the edges, but good," he teased as Annie scowled, jogging to keep up with his quick pace.

"What's with all the hurry? You said you needed to speak with me?"

"The Board wishes to speak with you..."

"About the Reapers?" Annie stopped as he continued up the stairs, lowering his head.

"Yes."

"You know we're not ready," the admiral hesitated, giving a heavy sigh before turning to Annie. "You know we can't beat the Reapers by talking them to death."

"They're just scared," he attempted to explain. "You're the only one that knows what we're up against, you've seen them…hell you've talked to one."

"Is that why they grounded me? Took away my ship? Cut me off from the outside world?" She couldn't help how upset she was about that, how much it got under her skin.

"Hey now, for all of the shit you've done you should be happy that was the worst of it. It's your knowledge of the Reapers that kept your ruling from being worse."

"And your good word," she grumbled, pushing past him only for Anderson to grab her shoulder. He was the closest thing she'd had to a father after what happened to her parents. And certainly he had done more than he should have to make sure she could do at least something towards this approaching war. Sometimes, though, she didn't know if he even realized how much she still relied on him, on his wise words and his stories. Anderson, like many, drove her to do better. But at the same time she couldn't help how much of a child she acted in front of him.

"Annie, look," he took hold of both of her shoulders, "I trust you, the Alliance trusts you, hell alien civilizations trust you…but you're about to walk into a room of terrified committee members. You have to convince them that it's time to act."

"I'm no politician, Anderson. I'm just a soldier."

"I'm not asking you to be one. I just need you to do whatever the hell it takes to help stop the Reapers." They continued onward, making their way through the numerous security checks before stepping into the lobby outside of the committee's room.

"Good to see you again, Admiral," Annie glanced to her side, startled as she watched Ashley stepped up to the pair. The woman had changed since their last meeting. For one she was no longer dressed in heavy armor, or even her civilian uniform. Her hair was down, which Annie never remembered seeing, and while bags hung under her eyes…she looked good. She was always a pretty woman; it just seemed that now she also held a little more sex appeal. "Shepard," she greeted, giving Annie a nod of her head in the commander's direction as Annie smiled in return.

"You too, Lieutenant-Commander," Admiral Anderson continued forwards but Annie stopped, glancing over at Ashley.

"Lieutenant-Commander?" She questioned as Ashley bowed her head in somewhat embarrassment.

"You hadn't heard?"

"No…I've been a bit out of the loop these days."

"Sorry, didn't mean to make you feel left out."

"It's fine," Annie smiled, reaching up to pat her gently on the shoulder, "it's just good to see you."

"You too, Shepard." They parted and Annie jogging to catch up with Anderson as they entered the bustling room.

"Shepard, we have some unfortunate news. Colonies have started to go dark. We've lost contact with everything beyond the Sol Relay." Annie didn't like the sound of that but she couldn't ignore the anger and frustration that had been settled in her stomach for years now. She stepped forward, hands clenched as she lifted her nose at the committee.

"You brought me here only to confirm what I've been trying to warn you about for three years now. The Reapers are here." It was then a man on the far end of the room shouted that they had an incoming message from London. Quickly it was brought up and they watched as the smoke and fire cleared from the battlefield to expose the terrifying sentient beings. Annie then turned back as the conversation was ended, seeing the fear Anderson had been telling her about on their walk up.

"What do we do?"

"The only thing we can; we fight or we die!"

Suddenly there was a loud bang, ending in a terrifying buzz that sent a shiver down Annie's spine. The room turned to the massive window behind them, watching as long black arms broke form the skies and the Reapers descended upon the city. Without warning one turned on the Headquarters and Annie grabbed at Anderson's arm, pulling him away as the bang sounded again, this time paired with a zap as an explosive red laser slammed into the building.

Annie was thrown from her feet, tossed into a nearby bench, sufficiently knocking the wind out of her. She grunted, rubbing at her sore shoulder as she looked up at the destroyed room, bodies scattered at all ends. "Annie!" Anderson shouted as she started to get up, movements a little stiff but nothing too bad as she checked the nearest person for life. "Annie we don't have time for that," he held out a pistol to her as Annie hesitated, looking down at the body. She hated that he was right. Sacrifice a few to save a billion. Annie was sure that would never sit well to her. "Come on we've got to get to the Normandy."

The pair headed out the massive hole in the window, looking out as the city started to crumble beneath the Reaper's immense power. She knew this was never going to be easy, but Annie was worried she might've finally met her match.


	35. Abandoning

They ran across rooftops, avoiding fire and taking out Reaper troops that had started to crawl about the city before forcing their way into a small building. The doors were jammed, the electrics busted as Annie used her back and arms to push it open so Anderson could squeeze through. But then a noise caught her attention. She glanced towards Anderson and then returned to the empty room they'd come from, tracking the noise to an air vent in the corner. Quietly she knelt down, coming face to face with the young boy she'd seen outside earlier.

"Hey," she smiled, "it's going to be okay." But the boy just crawled backwards, shaking his head.

"Everyone's dying."

"Come here, I can take you some place safe," she held out her hand, the building trembling from another attack. But the boy was scared as he shook his head, taking another few shifts backwards.

"You can't help me," Annie felt her stomach flip, glancing over as Anderson called to her. But when she turned back…the boy was gone.

"Annie, come on!" He shouted again as Annie gave a silent prayer that he would be okay. Certainly she wasn't religious, but at this point it couldn't hurt.

They got back into the other room, starting to shuffle across a thin ledge as Anderson started grumbling about what was happening. "This is a damned mess. Every second we're here crawling around in this, thousands die." The reminder didn't help Annie any as she nodded.

"That's worst part of it all, isn't it? No matter how hard you try…you can't save them all." Anderson gave a solemn nod only for another zap to shake the building. Annie lost her balance, beginning to fall forward as Anderson reached over and tugged her back against the wall. "Thanks," she breathed, hoping from the ledge onto more solid ground, "I owe you one."

"More than one," he responded and Annie knew he was right. That man risked everything for her ever since they met all those years ago. She would never forget that.

The two continued running, watching as buildings disintegrated under the Reapers energy beams. One smacked down only a could hundred meters from them, the sonic wave slamming them into some knocked over debris and breaking whatever it was that was holding the platform up. Annie tumbled down the metal roof, skidding along it till she rolled to a painful stop. Her elbows were cut, stinging from the dirt that had gotten into them, but otherwise she was good as they continued onwards to the landing site. Though as they proceeded Annie started to worry that were would be less and less chance for a landing pad to even be waiting for them.

It was a fight to the finish as the Normandy came swooping in, her crew shooting at the Cannibals that had started to swarm the pair. Quickly Annie and Anderson ran up a nearby ramp, the commander leaping onto the opened cargo door only to turn back. Anderson stopped at the edge of the ramp and Annie felt her heart fall. "Come on…David, please." She felt like a child all over again, watching her mother just before she died. But the man shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Annie, I'm not going. You saw those men back there. There's a million more like them, and they need a leader." He could see she wanted to go back, that she was ready to abandon her crew to stay with him. "This is a fight we can't win without your help, Annie. We need every species and all their ships to even have a chance at winning this war. You're the only woman I know of that can do that. Go to Citadel, talk to the Council and convince them to help us."

"What if they don't listen?"

"Make them listen. Now go! That's an order!"

"I don't take orders from you anymore, remember?" Annie smirked as the man plucked a set of dog tags from his pocket, as if knowing all along he'd be handing them off to her.

"Consider yourself reinstated then, Commander. You know what you have to do. Make me proud, Annie." Annie nodded, the ship taking off as Anderson stepped back

"Will do, sir," she whispered to herself watching as Alliance shuttles touched down from all around, collecting as many survivors as they could. But her eyes keyed in on a familiar sight, the young boy in his bright white hoodie looked up at her ship before running into one of the shuttles. Annie smiled, watching the door close and the shuttle take off to safety. But suddenly there came the terrifying bang and Annie watched as the shuttles were shot out of the sky. She gripped the amulet around her neck tightly, closing her eyes as she took in a deep breath. It was time to be strong.

Annie received a message from Admiral Hackett, directing them to Mars. Apparently there was something important in the archives there but all Annie heard was that Liara had been researching there. "What the hell is going on? Where's Anderson? Where are we going?" James snapped as Annie ignored him, continuing over to her armor to check it over before beginning to strap it on. "Hey! Where are we going?"

"We're leaving," Annie muttered, finishing the buckles on her breastplate.

"What? Leaving?"

"Anderson wants us to go get help from the Council."

"Bullshit, he wouldn't tell us to just leave." Annie clenched her fists, turning and leaning up close to James' face.

"We don't have a choice. Earth needs the support or this war is as good as over. I don't want to leave as much as you do, but Anderson is right, we have to get help." There was a pause as Annie gave a small sigh, checking to make sure her pistol was fully loaded. "We're going to Mars. There's apparently something important in the archives that could help us. We need to make sure we get there before the Reapers do."

COMMENTS: Sorry about the delay, didn't end up having any internet yesterday and spent all of today driving. Either way, plan for a bit of a irregular posting schedule for the next week, moving in an apartment and getting started with school. Enjoy!


	36. Hopeful Blueprints

They dismounted onto the planet's surface, seeing a heavy sandstorm approaching in the distance. This would have to be quick. Only they found out that they weren't alone as they came around the corner and were attacked by an army of Cerberus troops. "What the hell are they doing here?" Ashley asked as Annie looked over one of the bodies for any sort of answer.

"Beats me," Annie turned to find Ashley starting at her suspiciously. "What?"

"Well…you used to work for them…" Annie frowned, seeing where this conversation was going as they climbed into a large cargo elevator, the doors closing and the pressure equalizing enough for them to take their masks off.

"Used to being the key word, Ash," Annie snapped.

"I need a straight answer, Shepard. Do you know anything about this? What is Cerberus doing here?"

"What makes you think I should know?" Annie hissed, half considering smacking some sense into the woman.

"Well you used to work for them. How am I supposed to believe you cut all ties?" Annie moved close, only about a breath away from the woman, anger in her eyes.

"You're supposed to trust me. I shouldn't have to explain myself to you, Ash." The woman was silent as she turned away but Annie knew the discussion wasn't anywhere near over. She hated to think that her friend still doubted her loyalty, that she would risk getting help against the Reapers because of something that had happened six months ago. Something, of which, she didn't have much of a choice in anyway.

They emerged from the elevator only to tense from loud banging ahead. Annie's thoughts immediately jumped to gunshots but it was more muted than that. She glanced up, sidestepping behind a large forklift as her gaze fell on the end of an air vent, watching as the grate was kicked out and a figure hurdled herself from it. Bullets ricocheted off of the thin material but never connected with the target as the Cerberus shoulders quickly followed. It was then that the target took advantage of the soldiers squeezing their thickly armored selves out of the small opening. Her body was encased by a blue glow as she casted an area of stasis before firing two shots, one at each Cerberus member. They fell to the ground, receiving to extra bullets in their heads just for safety before the target turned.

And that's when Annie saw her.

Liara seemed to be constantly changing whenever Annie ran into her again. Six months seemed to have done her well, she was strong and fit and rather than the scared expression Annie saw when they first met, it was angry. In truth...it was sexy. Annie stepped from her cover, lowering her weapon as Liara quickly turned to aim her gun at Annie. Quickly her firearm fell as the asari returned the relieved smile and they attempted to calmly walk up to each other, Ash and James following their Commander. Annie glanced at the man, chuckling as she pushed down at his raised weapon, "Calm yourself, private. She's with us..." she breathed, quickly embracing the woman and closing the gap with a firm and deep kiss. It had been too long; then again it would always be too long when they were apart.

The pair of them pulled away a little out of breath as Ash cleared her throat in a somewhat annoyed tone. "Oh..." Liara remarked in her normal oblivious fashion. At least this time was different than their last meeting, at least this time she matched Annie's head-over-heels-for-her gaze. "Sorry...what are you doing here?" Liara asked, moving towards a nearby window in the cargo bay as Annie and her team followed.

"We received word that Mars was under attack and that you needed help," Liara smirked, glancing out the window.

"A few of my sources told me that there could be useful information here in the archives. With all of the Prothean artifacts in here I hoped I could find something to help fight the Reapers."

"And did you?" Ash asked flatly only for Liara to smile wider.

"I did. I found blueprints for what I believe to be a device to stop the Reapers."

"A weapon?" James asked as Liara chewed on her lip before giving a small shake of her head.

"I can't be completely sure at this point. The real problem right now is that they're in the deepest part of the archives..."

"Which just happen to be overrun by Cerberus scumbags," James grumbled as Annie turned towards her two teammates.

"Alright," she started, "James I need you to head back to the shuttle, try and keep in contact with the Normandy during this sandstorm. We'll need a quick escape," the soldier snapped back at her but was quick to recoil when Annie made it clear that this was not to be a democracy. "Liara, lead the way to the archives, I'm betting they're after what we want too." Ash and Liara nodded as James headed back down the elevator. Annie hated sending the kid off the front lines but he had to understand that there was importance in every position, not just the one firing the weapon. Without an escape plan getting these blueprints could be a waste of time that could end in all of them being buried in several tons of sand. That couldn't happen. Anderson needed them. Earth needed them.

They moved swiftly from there, climbing around some construction as they made their way to the tram-station. But as they did they discovered that there were more brutal things occurring here than what was expected of Cerberus. Or at least, what most people expected from Cerberus. Someone had opened the air lock to what looked like a mess hall, forcing all of the oxygen out and suffocating the remaining scientists. It was sick. She wanted to find the culprit.


	37. A Woman Down

And when they entered one of the security stations they discovered a video of one of the doctors making it clear who the Cerberus mole was. Immediately Annie could see the guilt settling into Liara's features as she turned away, leaning on a desk. "I should've realized it when I met her. She was so…distant. I was just so focused on finding a way to stop the Reapers."

"It's not your fault, Liara. Stopping the Reapers is all that should matter."

"But what if you're wrong? What if we can't stop them?" Liara had always been one for bringing people back to reality but even this was a little darker than Annie remembered from her. "What if these are our last days and we spend them scurrying around trying to solve a problem we can't fix?"

"Liara," Annie said with concern in her voice as she reached out to rest her hand on the woman's shoulder.

"I know," she sighed, turning around to face Annie, "I shouldn't think that way. I don't know how you do it. You've always stayed focused, even in the worst situations." Annie reached up, cupping Liara's face with a gentle smile.

"When there's so much at stake, I think about my friends, loved ones…what I'd lose if I failed." Liara looked up a smile finally breaking on her lips as Annie dropped her hands into the asari's. "We'll stop them, Liara. Together." Annie leaned forward, giving her another peck that would hopefully last them till they got back onto the Normandy.

They continued onward, making their way past a hostile turret before finally reaching the tram controls. Whatever these archives were hiding it had to be good for the amount of trouble they were going through to get it. Unfortunately, the mole wasn't stupid, shutting down the tram system so that they had no way to override it. But that's when Lieutenant-Commander popped up into the conversation, "What if we found a short helmet-to-helmet transmitter? We'd then convince them that we're part of Cerberus and have dealt with the Alliance forces." Annie and Liara looked at one another, startled at the idea. It was genius and Annie had to admit she was surprised she hadn't thought of it.

"Good idea, see what you can find," Annie remarked as Ashley nodded, heading off to go find a dead operative as Annie stretched her back, only to notice Liara staring at her. "What?"

"The Lieutenant-Commander has become very capable." Annie raised a curious brow, stepping towards her. Gently she stretched her arms around the woman, resting them on the edge of the table on either side so her face was right next to Liara's ear.

"Am I gonna have to start keeping an eye on you two?"

"Please, I said capable. Not sexily obnoxious," Annie smirked, another peck on her cheek before Ashley was calling her over. She came through the next-door, finding Ashley staring at a dead Cerberus troop. But there was something different about this one as she shifted to show the glowing blue eyes. He looked like he had started to turn into a husk.

"Cerberus," Ashley scoffed as she took the transmitter from the helmet and handed it to Annie. "They claim to stand for humanity, and yet they do this to their own people. That could've been you, Shepard. For all I know, that's what Cerberus has done to you."

"You can't actually be comparing me to that thing," Annie gestured to the man, trying to keep the anger out of her voice.

"No…I don't know…I don't know what you are since they got their hands on you. Would you even know if they were controlling you somehow?"

"I know they're not, Ash. I'm the same person I always was and always will be. Time won't change that. But if you need to take your sweet time in getting that through your head, then so be it." She hadn't meant to be so forceful at the end but she was having a difficult time controlling her anger. It was like Ash refused to believe her, like she just wanted Annie to turn on all of them so she could point fingers and say she told them so. It was a charade Annie was tired of.

But before the conversation could continue the communicator went off and they set to work getting a tram over to them. Sure, it included a small firing squad but they weren't too difficult to take out as the team plowed ahead. If anything the last push was the easiest part as Ash kept her eye on the perimeter and Liara set to work downloading the blueprints. But even that was proving to be a challenge as they realized the mole had taken up shop at a nearby console, downloading the necessary information before Liara could.

That's when the team set off in a chase, Annie doing her best to keep up with the woman. Maybe she was a little softer around the edges than she had been because by the time they reached the landing pad she felt like she was about to collapse. Worst of all was that it looked like the woman was getting away, climbing aboard the Cerberus shuttle as it began lifting off. "Fuck. Normandy come in! I need pick up. James! Do you read! Anybody!" There was static from the sandstorm as Annie gave a few pitiful shots at the shuttle only for a bright blue one to come swinging out of nowhere.

It smashed into the Cerberus shuttle and the pair went plummeting back to the landing pads, practically taking out Liara, Ashley, and Annie in the process. Annie grunted as she got up, looking over her shoulder to find Liara slowly pulling herself to her feet, a bit of a limb in her step. But as she turned back to find Ash she watched her friend getting lifted into the air by the burning mole. She wasn't a woman; she was a walking VI that had been given the order to kill Ash, slamming her against the side of the shuttle over and over. "Drop her!" Annie shouted, scrambling to her feet as a rush of blood made her dizzy. She fumbled for her pistol, catching the attention of the VI as it dropped Ashley and charged her. Quickly she fired three rounds into the woman's head, deactivating it as James came stumbling out of the partially damaged shuttle.

"Come on, we don't have much time," he warned and Annie nodded, gesturing to him to help with the VI body as she slung Ash's unconscious body over her shoulders. She needed help; Annie wouldn't let them take her like this. They rushed her to the Medic bay on the ship as Annie looked over Ash's body, trying to think of something she could do. Liara stood across from her, looking over the bruises that littered Ashley's face.

"Annie we have to get her to the Citadel." But Annie wasn't listening, she was to focused looking at her friend and wondering if this was her fault. If she'd just been faster, if she'd just stopped the VI from getting on the shuttle none of this would've happened. "Annie!" Liara's voice lowered as she reached over to rest her hand on the commander's, "my love, we have to get to the Citadel." Annie looked up before glancing back down again with a slow nod.

"Joker, set route to the Citadel."

Annie couldn't help how nervous she was about talking to the Council. She had good reason to be. They'd never trusted her first instinct and she wouldn't be surprised if they did the same here. But that was the worst part. They _had_ to help.


	38. Unsettling Nightmares

They got to the Citadel and Annie was forced to stand outside and wait till Ashley could be seen. And when she did walk into the room…it wasn't much better than after it first happened. Her face was swollen and bruised, the doctors said she was in a comma and had had an intense amount of brain swelling, though it seemed to be slowly going down. Annie rolled her lips together; looking down as she twisted her fingers and fiddled with them before glancing back up. "You got pretty banged up there, Williams. Had me worried. I just wanted to check in on you, see how you're doing. Despite all of this…it's good seeing you again, Ash." A doctor walked in to check up on her as Annie reached over and rested her hand on the woman's forearm. "You rest up now. I'll come back later when you're better, we'll talk." She then glanced towards the man, "If you need anything, just let me know."

Annie didn't know if they took that remark seriously around here or not but Annie meant it; she needed Ash to get better, she had to get better. It anything it reminded her of that horrifying moment on Virmire, choosing Ashley over Kaiden. She couldn't let his death go in vain. And she couldn't watch another friend like him die.

She made her way from there up to the Embassies, wishing she had another reason to delay what was about to come. Politics was never her cup of tea, she figured being a Spectre she'd be able to avoid that, to slide under red tape that other people couldn't. But in truth, politics seemed to be the entire definition of the job. If it wasn't for the handful of perks she got from it Annie might not consider the title worth it.

Sadly, from the looks of it as Annie walked onto the catwalk, they wouldn't be having the easiest time convincing them. Then again, Annie couldn't blame them. They were asking them to take all of their forces protecting their own borders and move them to Earth. And even after Liara exposed the Prothean device to the Council they continued to remain hesitant. It was painful to watch, gut wrenching…but not unreasonable.

After the meeting, though, Annie was met with the turian Councilor who explained a possible way to get what she needed. A war summit was to be held among all species to discuss what was to be done and if Annie could convince each member to aid Earth, than she might have a chance. That began with the turians and that meant heading to one of Palaven's moons to pick up who was to be the new Primarch. But her true next step was sleep.

Her eyes opened to smoke filled trees, the bark and branches black and dead. Slowly she pulled herself to her feet, noting how she was covered in full armor for such an empty place. Her head turned left then right, noting the dead leaves on the ground but seemingly no people until she looked straight again. Suddenly she found herself staring at the back of a bright white hoodie. She walked towards it but as she got closer the child simply stood and ran off behind a tree. He'd disappear and appear several meters off in the distance. Annie couldn't bring herself to run any faster, it was like something was holding onto her, dragging her down as she tried to catch the little boy, tried to get him to take her hand.

But when she finally was able to reach out for his shoulder a shudder rolled down her spine. The boy turned and she looked up on the young child that had run off in the air vents. He stared at her with the terrified gaze and without opening his mouth echoed, "You can't help me," before the bang of a Reaper sounded and he burned in front of her.

Annie gasped awake, snapping up in bed as Liara shifted in the sheets next to her. Again with the nightmares. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had such a rough time sleeping. Certainly she didn't give herself many chances to sleep, but it wasn't because of what rested in her subconscious. Only now she couldn't shake the trembling feeling the dream had given her as she lifted her knees up, leaning on her elbows as she looked down at the blanket.

"Babe?" Liara cooed, glancing over as she slowly sat up. Her hand rubbed against Annie's back, concern stretched across her features. It had been the first night the pair had slept together in months and yet Annie couldn't bring herself to do anything more than curl up around her. Like always Liara was understandable, the pair simply dressing in pajamas for the evening. This war was already making Annie feel frayed at the edges. "Couldn't sleep?" Annie sighed, giving a small nod of her head but forcing a smile as she looked up at the beautiful woman.

"But that's alright. I prefer waking up to this beautiful face anyway," Liara blushed as the pair shared a tender kiss, only for a knock to come from her quarter's door. "Yes?" Annie asked as Liara started to pick up her clothes from the end of the bed, the door opening to a young dark-skinned woman with even darker hair.

"Commander Shepard, I'm Specialist-" she looked up, her rehearsed introduction derailed as she blushed ferociously. "Oh, I'm sorry I thought you were alone," she looked away as Liara smirked, giving Annie a peck on her temple before adjusting the last piece of clothing.

"That's alright I was just leaving."

"Commander Shepard?" She started again as Annie stepped from the bed, beginning her own dressing routine. After everything that had happened to her…she wasn't really that traditional with all of her crewmates. She'd grown attached to everyone of them very quickly. So even if this woman was new, Annie would attempt to let her feel at home as she stepped into a pair of trousers. "I'm Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor, with Alliance R&D," she continued, explaining what was new to the ship after they'd scrapped away all of the Cerberus paint.

She wasn't what Annie would call shy – especially after she made a very sexual comment about what she'd do to EDI's voice – but it was clear she was out of her element. Traynor had been a researcher, someone that sat around safe in a lab all day long. She reminded the woman a lot of Liara. Though she doubted Traynor would be popping up as the next Shadow Broker any time soon.


	39. Disciplining Her Troops

Joker had them on the way to Palaven, the ship bustling with new life. There were some familiar faces as well as some new faces. Due to how much of a cluster fuck their exit from Earth was, a lot of the crewmembers – like Traynor – hadn't even planned on being part of the Normandy. They had simply been there to run diagnostics on the ship before the Reapers attacked. But Annie could tell they were all glad to be on the ship. Even if they too wanted to help Earth they knew this was the place to be if they really wanted to help.

Annie made her way down to Liara's office, curious towards what a woman with her resources was able to accomplish in such a small space. But before meeting up with the asari, she was greeted by a familiar information drone. _Hello, Commander Shepard. Doctor T'Soni would like me to inform you that you may visit whenever you like._ Annie smirked, thanking it before turning towards the busy workingwoman in front of a wall of screens.

"Do you have enough stuff?" Annie teased as Liara looked up from what she was doing and chuckled.

"At least what will be most important to help us against the Reapers. After Cerberus took the base Feron and I had to load up as much of the materials a we could." Annie hated to hear that, knowing very well why the base had been attacked. But it seemed that Liara had planned for it, knowing very well that the Illusive Man wouldn't turn down an opportunity when he saw one. "Plus, it made it easier for me to come aboard with you. Unlike on Illium," she gave a bit of a sad smile before bowing her head. "I wanted to visit you…after I got your message I wanted to try to find some way to help you. But then Admiral Hackett called me and…and I'm sorry." Annie shook her head, wrapping her arms around the woman from behind and pressing her nose into the curve of her neck.

"It's okay. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let you see me anyway. Any message I attempted to send outside of the Alliance was terminated." They swayed gently for a moment, enjoying the soft silence with the every so often beep of a notification. It was rare they had such a chance in their lives. Liara was always dealing with her information brokers and Annie was always under fire. They never really had a chance to just hold one another and enjoy the moment. After this war Annie would make sure they made that time. "You know…" she whispered into Liara's ear, "there was more than one reason I was glad to see you on Mars."

Liara giggled, turning around in Annie's arms to cup her face, thumb running gently over the curve of her cheekbones. "I'd like to hear that list. But maybe later?" Annie smiled and nodded, pulling Liara's hand from her face to kiss her palm before making her way down to the shuttle bay. If anything…she had words she needed to share with James. The soldier might've thought he got away with his stunt back on Mars, but that was far from the truth.

Annie made her way to where he had made himself comfortable among all of the exercise equipment. He was doing pull-ups and an impressive number from the looks of it as Annie stepped in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest. "You here for a show?" He flirted as Annie rolled her eyes, James dropping from the pipe he'd been using, giving a roll of his shoulders.

"Of course, they're quite amazing," Annie said with as much sarcasm as she could muster. James simply laughed, moving towards the center of the shuttle bay.

"Well come on then, Lola. Why don't I show off more while we see who's best?" Lola? It was a curious name, for certain. Then again she sort of liked it. Not in any way that would become permanent, but in general she liked how it sounded coming from him.

"Alright, Private. Whoever gets on their back first, loses," she readied herself, fists raised as James gave a hard laugh. "I will warn you that it's not easy to get me on my back." At that James took the first punch, Annie easily deflecting it as she took a step back.

"You know, you remind me a lot of my last commander. I could never tell when he was serious or telling a joke." He gave another few punches before it was Annie's turn to advance. "He was killed when we were trying to protect a colony attacked by the Collectors."

"I'm sorry."

"Naw," he said quickly, shifting back a few steps as Annie moved forward, "I'm sorry. We were there just to grab Intel on the Collectors, not even for the people. When they hit we were forced to pick the information over the people." Suddenly James started to attack back, a little harder than before as Annie narrowly avoided a full forced punch. "And in the end it was pointless because you were already out there blowing them up."

"Is that supposed to be my fault?"

"No…I just hate having to stand around waiting for something to happen. We're just messengers, the real fight is down on Earth."

"Is that why you pulled that stunt on Mars?" James gave her a confused look as Annie frowned, starting to push a little harder forward. "I didn't like leaving Earth just as much as you, James. But we can't go around throwing our lives away in hopes of it accomplishing something."

"I was willing to do whatever was necessary!" James snapped, swinging his arm forward. But Annie caught it, surprising him as she used his wrist as a pivot point. She swung her body forward, legs swopping over her head and over his shoulders. The impact of her weight put James off balance, eventually having him tumble to the floor just as Annie bent backwards, her hands touching the ground between his legs. She swung herself onto her feet just as his back hit the ground, adjusting her uniform as James gave her a started expression.

"There is a difference between doing what's necessary and what's pure stupidity." She held out her hand to him, pulling him to his feet as he continued to gawk at what had just happened. "You're a good soldier, James. There's no reason for you to throw your life away unnecessarily. And I promise, we will return to Earth with the power to defeat the Reapers." James nodded slowly as Annie gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before making her way towards the elevator.

"Thanks for the show, Lola." She stopped, glancing back at him over her shoulder with a smirk.

"Don't get too cozy, James. I recommend not bringing this up, Liara doesn't like knowing I've had other people between my legs." The other crewmembers in the shuttle bay snickered as James nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Now you've gone and made me blush."


	40. Earth Wasn't the Only One

Annie, James, and Liara crowded into the shuttle not long after, done up in their armor as they flew over to Palaven's biggest moon. The screen on the side of the shuttle, showing what was going on outside, made Annie's stomach turn. Palaven was burning; the species with the galaxy's greatest military was crumbling under the Reapers power. "Oh Annie," Liara gasped, "Is that what Earth looked like?" Annie thought back to their ascent into Earth's atmosphere, watching as broken Alliance cruisers plummeted through the clouds, burning up in the air. She remembered the painful bang of the Reapers and the zap of their lasers as she closed her eyes, giving a slow nod of her head. She wanted to say it was worse, to claim that Palaven knew nothing of the Reaper's true power. But that wouldn't be fair. She didn't wish what was happening on Earth to anyone. "I'm sorry," she whispered as Annie tried to give her a comforting smile and a nod of her head.

"Greatest military in the world and they're getting pummeled!" James hissed, his broad shoulders making him look like a square peg shoved into a round hole.

"Have you heard any news from him?" Liara suddenly asked as Annie bit down on her lip. She'd been trying to contact Garrus on their way over, to ensure he was safe but all she got was static.

"Who? The Primarch?" James asked as Annie glanced over her shoulder at him.

"No, we have a friend down there…I just pray he's made it out okay." Annie tensed, feeling Liara reach up to slide her hand into Annie's. The woman gripped it tightly, needing the anchor as the door of the shuttle opened. The entire surface of the moon was a battlefield, covered mostly in husks with the terrifying scattering of what looked like Reaper-like turians. It made Annie think back to the Collectors, to their Prothean predecessors. How many adaptations had their enemy made? Were husks the only Reaper-humans? They were fighting against their own brothers and sisters. It was sick.

"It's too hot for me to touch down, Commander. We're gonna have to make this a tuck and roll," Cortez explained as Annie nodded, pulling out her sniper. Cortez was a curious addition to her crew, probably because she could see the pain he held in his heart. She didn't know what it was from but it was clear he was holding onto something that forced him to put up walls, to fake his enthusiasm. Annie had done it herself many times before.

The team jumped form the shuttle, shooting their way to one of the nearby camps as Cortez headed back up to the Normandy. It was unsettling, seeing such well-trained soldiers looking absolutely terrified. Annie had never seen that in a turian. They were always strong, always ready to serve and protect. Sure, she didn't always agree with their strict rules and regulations, but she respected their heart. And now here they were, gripping their guns with white knuckles as they watched their home burn from a distance. Only the heartless watched that without fear.

"General," Annie announced, holstering her weapon as he looked up from his plans.

"Commander Shepard, glad to see you made it."

"I'm assuming you know why I'm hear?" The man sighed, nodding his head as he looked up at the men protecting the walls.

"Yes, but I have some bad news. We've lost contact with the last turian in line for the position of Primarch." Annie held her breath. To think that the Reapers had destroyed so many of their own people that they no longer seemed to have a clear line of hierarchy. "Right now, our only option is Primarch Victus." Annie raised a brow, noting the hesitation in his announcement.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"General Victus isn't exactly known for following protocol." Annie jumped, hearing the familiar voice and turning her head to where Garrus step next to the general.

"Garrus! God dammit you make a good job popping up when I think you're dead." Garrus chuckled, the pair giving a firm handshake.

"Call it pay back for last year," it was then Liara burst into giggles and Garrus chuckled, pulling the woman into a hug. It was always warming to see such care between her friends, so much love. It drove her to protect them, to keep them safe for moments like this. "Doctor T'Soni, as I live and breathe. How goes work?" He teased, jabbing her side with his elbow as Liara stuck out her tongue. Liara was probably the first Shadow Broker with a large group of people knowing her identity. At first Annie thought it would be a problem, that it could sacrifice her safety, but it seems the woman had been very careful deciding who knew and who didn't.

"Garrus? As in Garrus Vikarian?" James asked as Garrus gave Annie a curious look, wondering who the chump was that she'd brought along.

"Yes, Garrus, this is James, James this is Garrus. Now, what are you doing here?" She asked as the group stepped away from the General.

"After what happened with Cerberus I came back to Palaven, trying to warn them about the Reapers. The best I got was the recognition that I knew more about them than the rest of the planet. And now that they're here, well, they wanted me up here to get my expert opinion on it all."

"Which is?" Garrus looked out before bowing his head.

"We should've prepared more," Annie could hear the guilt in his voice, a guilt she felt every day. Maybe if she'd screamed a little louder they would've heard, would've listened…but it was too late now.

"Well do you know where this new Primarch is?" Garrus nodded as a concerning call came in from Joker. Something was up with the Normandy, it was sporadic and uncontrollable and Liara offered to go back and see if she could fix anything. It only reminded Annie how much she missed having tali on her team. Sure, Liara was very good at some tech work, the Normandy's engineers were brilliant, but Tali was something completely different. Either way they started to make their way across the moon's surface, getting a bit of a back-story to all of this as they did.

"Victus is a brilliant general, one of the best, but he doesn't get much love from the council. His methods are, to put it frankly, against protocol. On one mission where they were to take control of a rebel base he discovered there was a salarian espionage team there doing the very same. So he pulled his men back and waited. After three days of letting the rebels and the salarians kill each other off he moved in, didn't lose a man." Annie could see how that was impressive but also probably not the best strategy for a turian.

The three then arrived at another base that had been overrun by Reapers including a terrifying brute that looked like two krogans put together with the head of a turian. "Ready boys?" Annie asked as the team separated, picking off the smaller enemies as Annie focused on the big boy. She watched it lower itself and charge, rolling out of the way just in time, confusing it as it looked around for her. Fortunately the thing didn't seem to be very bright. Then again, killing machines never were.

As it turned back to her to try it again Annie settled herself, ready to act this time. It charged and Annie waited till the very last moment as she rolled out of the way. Quickly she got up and dove for him, extending the blade from her omni-tool to stab into its back as it crashed into a collection of boulders. It roared and Annie swung herself onto its back, gripping the spinal cord that poked out of the dark skin. Angrily it shook itself before deciding the easiest way to get her off would be to jump onto its back.

Annie pulled back on the spines, using it to slingshot her body up, catching the back of its head as it hit the ground, Annie landing safely on its stomach. It gave half a roar before she fired two pistol shots into its head, sending another two into the exposed ribcage in its chest to finish the job.

"Jesus, Lola!" James exclaimed, the fight finally over as Annie wiped her brow, breathing heavily. "I'd heard stories, but I just thought those were exaggerations! You could've taken down the whole Alliance headquarters if you wanted." Annie chuckled nervously, holstering her weapon.

"Problem is," Garrus butted in, "humans aren't enough of a challenge to Shepard. She's a bit of an adrenalin junkie. Why else do you think she's in love with one of the most dangerous women in the galaxy?"

"Shut it, Vikarian," Annie chuckled, pushing him to the side as they approached the General and his remaining men. He was startled at first by her news, only for sadness to run across his features. She was asking him to leave his men, to give up the moon so that he could play politician. Any soldier would see the insanity of it. He belonged on the battlefield but understood the importance of the summit, he'd seen what the Reapers did and how critical it was to banding together. If anything, Annie was just glad he was a soldier because this was a soldier's war. No manner of conversation or negotiating would stop the Reaper's attack. They would continue to push until every organic being was killed. This summit would need to be composed of ambassadors that understood this or the galaxy would fall.


	41. Girl Scout to the Rescue

But before Annie had any chance to help the turians more, Traynor was quick to bring something to her attention. She'd been looking through a curious collection of signals, separating and dissecting them till discovering something worrisome. "Commander, I think I found what could be a distress beacon disguised as a maintenance request. Grissom Academy keeps sending them out but whenever I I respond it just repeats the signal. There's a possibility they've been attacked and that's the best that they can do without giving away their position on the station." Grissom Academy was for the gifted humans of the galaxy including the few children that were born with biotic abilities who were taught how to appropriately use the gift. Being a biotic there wasn't surprising, but a normal student was amazing. Any child accepted into the academy on simple intelligence meant the child was a genius, a prodigy in the galaxy. Annie knew exactly what sort of people would want those children under their command. Cerberus

"Good catch," Annie acknowledge as Traynor gave a slow nod before gesturing back to her console.

"I'm guessing it's Cerberus, but I can't entirely be sure. I could probably try and scrub the signals a little more but-" Annie reached over, pulling on the specialist's shoulder so she turned to face her.

"Traynor, I said good catch." The woman gave a small smile and another nod of her head as Annie prepared her team for the station. But as she walked from Dr. Chakwas office, finishing up a quick physical, the power in the Normandy suddenly started to fluctuate.

_Commander,_ Joker clipped on over the speakers, _EDI just went down and all our systems just shut down and restarted. I don't know what happened but I'm getting a fire warning in the main control room_. Annie spun in her place, darting back into the med bay, and letting the two men with fire extinguishers fully cover the control room before she followed.

"EDI?" She called, waving away the smoke in the air to expose something she never expected. The mole VI that they had collected from Mars was on her feet but looked much different, completely clean and new as the woman looked over her features.

"Yes, Shepard?" It responded and Annie realized it sounded exactly like the ship's AI.

"E-EDI? Is that you?" The woman turned and looked at Annie, quick to settled her hands behind her back, politely folded.

"Yes."

"How?" Annie was still having a hard time processing what she was looking at. Sure, she'd wondered what EDI might've looked like as a human being…but this was something completely different.

"When I was looking through Dr. Ava's memory stores as you asked I triggered a back up power source and security measures. It attempted to take hold of the ship and I was forced to physically apprehend it and it…struggled. After that I discovered that this body could be more useful for field missions for when the Normandy's short range couldn't help. The transition wasn't seamless."

"You're telling me! Why didn't you warn any of us?" Annie snapped as EDI looked at her inquisitively. The fact that EDI was even able to do that still unsettled the commander.

"It would have been a waste of precious time." Annie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose before giving a small chuckle. She might've been looking at a woman but there were so many times when it was clear how naïve and child-like EDI was.

"Well the next time that you decided to restart our systems at least give us some sort of warning. We were worried something had happened to you." EDI bowed her head apologetically.

"I do not believe that will happen any time soon, Shepard. But I will be sure to warn you if it does. Now I must get onto the main bridge to clean up my mess and I'm sure Joker will wish to see my new body." Annie watched EDI walk by her, holding in an impressed whistle at her new metallic curves. Joker would _certainly_ want to get a look at her. Only then the Spectre's eyes glanced up, meeting Liara's annoyed glare as she stood there with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What?" Annie gave a sheepish smile as Liara rolled her eyes, finding it difficult to keep from smiling herself. "You're still my love!" Annie shouted after her, suddenly feeling very self-conscious as the crew in the immediate vicinity gave her a confused look. She cleared her throat nervously; hoping a casual salute to them all would ease the tension. "As you were," she breathed, heading down to the shuttle bay to continue preparing for their mission to Grissom Academy.

And when they arrived in the system it was very clear Annie and Traynor's hunches were right. The place was swarmed with Cerberus shuttles, making it impossible for them to simply dock and walk on without any sort of trouble. But Annie had a plan, maybe even one Joker would enjoy.

"Joker," Annie spoke into her communicator as she, Liara, and Garrus climbed onto the shuttle. "The moment we pull out of the shuttle bay I want you to get Cerberus' attention. Give them a show and distract them so we can dock by the maintenance entrance." Joker agreed and the moment the shuttle dropped from the lip of the ramp Joker was off, spinning and twirling the expensive ship like it was a cheap toy. EDI was probably less than amused.

They were able to make it onto the ship without issue, a transmission coming through on their shuttle ride to inform them one of the instructors was hiding in a maintenance control room. A room that only seconds before was trying to be unlocked till Annie and her team arrived. The teacher, Kahlee Sanders, seemed to be a friend of Anderson's, though admittedly it was a friend Annie had never heard of. He was always a little hesitant exposing his private life to Annie, maybe believing that once he did he couldn't ignore how she looked at him like a father. Or maybe it was just easier that way.

She sent them towards the Orion Hall, running into one of the most unlikely people she ever expected to see. "Jack?" Annie questioned.

"Shepard?" She responded only to quickly protect one of the students, ushering them up into an enclosed room as Annie and her team deal with the Cerberus troops and the Atlas in the room.

"Kahlee said she was putting out an SOS. I had no idea the Queen of the Girl Scouts would shop up," Jack teased, hurling herself form the balcony, her biotic powers kicking in just in time for her to make a safe landing. Only she then wound up and slammed her fist into Annie's jaw. Liara stepped up behind her and Annie reached back to hold the woman at bay, the last thing they needed was a biotic war over a misunderstanding. This was simply Jack's way of telling Annie she was an idiot. "What did I tell you about working with Cerberus?"

"The same thing I've been telling myself the past six months," Annie muttered, rubbing that the sore spot that would sure bruise. Jack then began to explain the situation as Annie counted the number of students under her aid. It was nice to see the woman putting her rough and tumble attitude to good use. And the kids seemed to love her. But that was just it...they were kids. They had stuck around the academy because they were to fight with Alliance, to be part of the war. Powerful biotics or not Annie refused to let a bunch of kids run head on into battle.

And when they got everyone to safety Annie was sure to state as such. At first the kids seemed upset but Jack was pleased, telling her kids they would go wherever they needed them. It seemed even prisoner zero didn't want the little tykes walking into hell if they didn't have to.


	42. Just One of the Marines

Annie admittedly hated the continuous back and forth to the Citadel. It was a waste of time and normally was just her going delivering items that people suddenly needed. She felt like a pack mule. But at least it gave her some time to look around the place. Annie never really had the chance before. It was always about getting in and getting out as quickly as possible. But sometimes she would linger, go to the presidium to spend a few peaceful moments with Liara or down to Purgatory for a few drinks. In fact, that's where she was in the process of going, getting a message from James to meet him there.

"Commander!" James greeted, waving Annie over through the dim lighting and pulsing music as she approached the bar. "Surprising to see you actually came down here in the dirt with us grunts." Annie raised a curious brow, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest.

"And what makes you think I don't like to get dirty?" James seemed flustered by the remark but attempted to smooth it out with a laugh.

"Don't get me wrong, Lola, just…look over there at that group of marines. They've been buying me drinks all night for the same reason they just got real quiet when you walked in."

"What are they scared of me?" James gave a small shrug, "Intimiated?" She asked again, James swinging down the last of his drink before nodding his head. "You don't seem very intimidated by me," she commented as James gave another chuckle and a nod of his head.

"Yes, but I've seen you in action. I've seen you fight. You're probably one of the best soldiers out there."

"Probably?"

"If you keep pulling stunts like you did on Palaven's moon then maybe you'll make it to the top of that list," he joked. "Not to mention you can fill out a uniform like no other." Annie gave her own laugh, relaxing a little as James gave a kind smile, "But I know you're human, just like me."

"But not like them?"

"Nope, hell I still remember the day they made you the first human Spectre. And to them you're still larger than life." Annie glanced towards the group again, watching one of the marines catch a quick glimpse. She still remembered what it was like being a plain old soldier and gawking as heroes walked by her. Admittedly after everything that had happened she hadn't really considered herself as one of those heroes. She was just doing her job but James had pointed out that her job was a little different than it had been as a soldier. So Annie splurged, buying the table a round and wishing them luck in an attempt to remove the pedestal they'd put her on. This war would be treating all people the same. She wanted to make sure they knew that.

It was then Annie turned her attention to the other end of the club where a familiar face was settled in her own private sitting area. Annie walked up to find Aria quarreling with a woman from customs, claiming that she hadn't properly docked or something along those lines. Unexpectedly, Aria pulled out her joker, calling up the asari Counselor, immediately getting the woman and explaining the misunderstanding. The Counselor was quick to fix it before they ended the call but the customs employee didn't seem much happier. It was then Aria turned her attention to Annie, smirking as she gestured to a spot on the massive chair.

"I hate this place, so sickeningly uptight," she hissed, standing from her seat. "Cerberus stole Omega from me. And now the Illusive Man is now squarely at the top of my shit list."

"Join the club," Annie muttered under her breath. "How did they do it?"

"Defeat. Deception. And a big fucking army. They lured me away from Omega and ambushed me. I escaped, but Cerberus had already laid siege. By the time I could lay an assault, they were too entrenched."

"At least you have the chance to fight back."

"Yes…but that is something to be dealt with at a later time. I'm glad you're here; I have an offer for you." She turned to face Annie as the commander awaited her request. It was probably just going to be something degrading and something that Aria didn't want to have to do herself. Besides, if Annie knew anything about Aria's contacts, she couldn't blame the asari for not wanting them to stare at her tits all day long just to get what she wanted. "Since how I see it is these Reapers are going to kill anyone no matter where I'm sitting on the food chain. It is in my best interest to help you by giving you control of the Blood Pack, Eclipse, and Blue Suns mercenaries." Annie raised a surprised brow, settling back in the chair in somewhat disbelief.

"And this will be achieved how?"

"When I was on Omega I kept them in check…now, though, they're running around like a bunch of fools with no direction. I need you to go to the leaders of each, convince them to follow under me again and in turn I will ensure you have access to as many of them as your little heart desires." Annie couldn't say she was exactly pleased to be Aria's errand girl, but after a few drawn out negotiations with the mercenary groups Aria followed through on her promise. Something Annie couldn't decide if it was surprising to her or not.

The majority of the time Annie was in the Citadel it was to visit Ashley. She was doing better, the fact that she was awake being a major break through. Most times they just talked, now able to finish their discussion about Cerberus with a little more level-headedness. Ashley agreed that Annie had cut all ties and ended up admitting that she was still just a little hurt about her dying and delaying when they met face to face after she came back. Annie couldn't blame her. Dying hadn't been on her list of things to do for several more years. She was just surprised with how bothered Ashley had been by it. Then again Annie had never be able to assume how someone would react to something.

But the most recent news that the Lieutenant-Commander had given Annie was that Ashley was being asked to become the galaxy's second human Spectre. It was a big deal and a position that Ash most certainly deserved. Though, the woman was hesitant about it, making it clear that it would be difficult to serve the galaxy over the Alliance. The first time the two women had met Ashley hadn't been that big of a fan of aliens, she was extremely loyal to the Alliance and the Alliance only. After she served her time aboard the Normandy, though, she seemed to see some benefit to reaching out a little more. Sure, she still went a tad stiff when turians and asari hit on her in bars but she was able to keep her composure a little better. And for the same reason as Annie had, she accepted it because it allowed her to better serve her duty as part of the Alliance. In the end that's probably why all Spectres accepted the honor – not including Mira –in that they were brothers and sisters just trying to help their people as best as they could. Being a Spectre gave them access to things that their people couldn't otherwise have access to.

Annie was happy for her, but the woman had a few days of rough paper work before it was official. The commander had been lucky in that when she was appointed as a Spectre she had to start her chase after Saren as quickly as possible rather than sit around signing contracts. So the Council waited until she had returned and succeeded before they gave her the lovely welcome back gift.

Soon after leaving Ashley's hospital room that day – hopefully for the last time now that Ashley was up and walking – Annie was informed that Aria wished to meet with her. Annie could only assume it had to do with Omega. Taking back that entire station was going to be a bitch and a half but Annie couldn't deny that it would be good to have it on her side rather than with Cerberus. So when given instructions about where to go, Annie followed, arriving at Aria's designated meeting area, alone as she specified.


	43. Hashing Out the Plan

She was led by one of the asari's batarian thugs to a taxi stop where a car pulled up and the door opened to Aria leaning in the back. "Get in," she ordered and for a moment Annie considered defying them but that would be pointless as she climbed aboard.

"How dramatic."

"There are too many eyes and ears in Purgatory," she commented before the doors closed and they began their casual trip around the docking bays.

"I assume this is about retaking Omega?" Annie let her eyes drift around the car, out the window, and then back to Aria as if to uphold how this was supposed to look normal to the outside bystander.

"This is about your war, Shepard and with Cerberus controlling the Terminus Systems it seriously bolsters their mobility. Since taking Omega they've spread through the galaxy. Surely the Alliance has noticed." Aria…as melodramatic as always.

"Cut to the chase. What's your plan?"

"I've massed a collection of fighter ships, we're going to punch through their lines and invade. Once we're on Omega, it's a ground war. That's why I want you – I only accept the best."

"You flatter me," Annie muttered. Certainly Aria and her didn't see eye to eye on everything and it always unnerved the commander with how much Aria knew about her past but Annie couldn't deny her drive. "What sort of force are we up against?"

"Petrovsky's army is massive, and he's got Omega locked tight. The information stops there." Petrovsky was Cerberus's number one strategists and the Illusive Man's best-kept secret. Annie could see by the way Aria flinched at every mention of the name that she was out for blood.

"So…you're winging it? Sounds familiar," Annie smirked, glancing back out the window only for Aria to give her own scoff.

"Not at all. There are secrets on Omega only I know, secrets that will provide us a foothold. I can tell you this. Petrovsky's invasion was precise and ruthless. He'll stop at nothing to win."

"Looks like he's about to meet his match," Annie added, looking over the small collection of information Aria had just explained on a datapad. The woman chuckled, leaning back in her seat as she turned her attention towards the commander.

"That kind of talk makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. When Omega is mine again, I'll give you everything. I've got ships, mercs, eezo – all yours for the war." It was then Annie heard the heavy hanging catch to this whole plan, and she figured it had a lot to do with how Aria wanted none of her team to hear about this. "My only requirement is that I have objections with some of the company you keep, so you'll have to leave the Normandy and its crew behind." Annie pursed her lips together in thought. That wouldn't be easy. Her team would suspect, Liara would suspect.

"My crew are professionals," Annie hissed as Aria gave a mischievous smirk, leaning over to pull at Annie's chin with her index finger. Annie tensed, her nose wrinkling in an annoyed expression.

"Let's just say…I want you all to myself." It was then Annie was dropped back off at the dock, Aria leaving without much more except where to meet her and her fleet. Annie made her way back to the Normandy, trying to think of a good excuse the whole walk there.

All Annie needed to do was get out the door. The rest of her team seemed to believe her that whatever she was doing would be important. All except for Liara. The asari had heard about her departure through the grapevine, which only seemed to make her more upset that she hadn't heard it from the commander herself. Annie was aware of the dangers of withholding information from an information broker but she was simply following Aria's instruction. No one was to know. No one was to come with her.

"Hold on, where is it you're going again?" Liara asked, chasing after Annie as the commander finished up a few last minute items on the CIC.

"Just…on a bit of a trip," she remarked, sliding into the elevator in hopes of losing her lover. But Liara was quick and thin, slipping into the small gap between the doors as they shut.

"Oh really? Just a trip?" She crossed her arms over her chest, raising her brow accusingly at her lover. Annie couldn't honestly believe Liara would fall for this

"Ya…like, you know, some shore leave to clear my head." The doors opened to the shuttle bay and Annie stepped out to begin putting on her armor and preparing her weapons.

"You do understand that I know when you're lying? That's part of the whole mental connection thing we share. Plus you're a terrible liar." There was a pause of which Annie attempted to pretend she didn't understand what Liara was talking about. "Very well," Liara huffed, helping Annie reach a difficult buckle on her side. "Ignoring the fact that you have yet to go on a shore leave without me, I have never believed you to take a day off in a situation like this unless someone had a gun to your head." It was then Liara came to a disturbing possibility, her worry showing in her features as Annie rolled her eyes, gripping the woman's shoulders gently.

"No one is holding a gun to my head, Liara, I promise. I'm just going to be gone for a couple of days." Annie rested a kiss on Liara's cheek, moving away from the supplies and towards the shuttle she planned to take over to Aria's fleet location. Alone.

"Annie Eleanor Shepard," Liara hissed, hands on her hips as Annie flinched, almost too nervous to turn around and face her. Liara had a good way of settling guilt and fear into Annie's bones by just a few well-placed words. Go on a suicide mission to the center of the galaxy? Sure. Attempt to convince the krogan to forgive the turians? Sounds like fun. Put her alone in a room with an upset Liara? No thank you. "Tell me where you are going or so help me I'll find out myself and then quarantine you to your quarters for the remainder of this war." Some people might've considered her response a little…extreme, but Annie could understand her concern. She'd just gotten the commander back. Annie knew she wouldn't like letting her run off into the unknown.

Annie rolled her lips, turning around to face her and glancing at the room full of curious crewmembers. She reached over, grabbing Liara's wrist and tugging her behind the shuttle as the asari gave her an annoyed glare. "Doing this isn't going to change my question," Liara stressed as Annie rolled her eyes.

"Look…I'm going to Omega to help Aria get the station back," Liara's annoyed expression fell into a stunned one, mouth falling partially open. "She made me promise that I wouldn't tell anyone or bring anyone along."

"Omega?" Liara said a little to loud for Annie as the woman quickly shushed her. The asari attempted to lower her voice but her words were still filled with a harsh worry. "That place is overrun by Cerberus troops!"

"I know, I know. But Aria claims to have a plan and she just needs my help to be able to properly execute it." Liara gave a hard laugh, reaching up to cup Annie's face before giving a gentle and somewhat degrading pat on her cheek.

"My love, you are one of the most impressive fighters I know. But are you sure this is even possible?" Annie reached up, taking the hand on her face and hold it close to her chest.

"It's worth a try, isn't it? To have an entire station providing the Alliance with necessary eezo, weaponry, and fighters? Plus, we'll be taking out a major Cerberus base in the process. Aria promised it would be no more than three days. One to get there and prepare, one to take the station over, and another to get back to the Normandy." Liara stood there, her thumb gently running over the worn and scratched up armor before giving a defeated sigh.

"Three days?"

"Three days," Annie rolled her lips, realizing just how much she hoped the woman would approve. The commander hated having to go behind Liara's back. Suddenly the woman leaned forward, pulling Annie into the deep kiss. There were times when their kisses were playful and lovely, and then others when they were needy. This was the latter. Liara's arms wrapped around Annie's neck her right leg sliding up her side, hugging her body, as she seemed to refuse to let go.

"Okay," she panted, resting her hand on Annie's chest as the Spectre smiled. "But watch yourself around Aria," Liara added as Annie raised an amused brow.

"Watch myself? My love, if the past three years has proved anything," she wrapped her arms around the asari's waist, lifting her before pressing her back tighter to the side of the shuttle. Liara giggled, wrapping her legs around Annie's waist and looking down as she curled a pesky lose piece of hair around Annie's ear. "It is that I am completely and utterly taken," she whispered as Liara held Annie's face in her hands and they kissed deeply once more.


	44. A Different Sort of Omega

Annie climbed aboard the Cerberus cruiser, not particularly stunned that Aria was able to get her hands on one. It was impressive, certainly, and seemed to be getting the full use out of it with Aria at the stand. "Ah, the guest of honor has arrived. We can finally start," Aria greeted as Annie adjusted the armor pads on her forearms, Liara was so much better at getting them on straight than she.

They were quick to act once they got started, despite Annie's remark on the riskiness of Aria's plan. The woman was quick to refuse her input, making it clear once again that Annie was not to be heard until their feet touched the ground. Admittedly, though, it was impressive to watch as Aria held her fleet back and simply approached the collection of Cerberus vessels that surrounded the station. She had thought about a lot, including finding an appropriate voice feed and password that would get them past the front lines. And then suddenly the war was on, the commanding ship down as Aria sent her fleet in to give them back up.

It was then, of course, that the general decided to show his face and probably flaunt his ego a little. _Aria_, he greeted, appearing on the holodeck in the middle of the room, _I knew it had to be you. Pull back, you won't make it onto this station._

"You're barking up the wrong tree, General, but maybe you can convince my partner." Annie hated that she was already being dragged into their little quarrel. She just wanted to get this job done without having to become a character in the next big soap opera. If Aria was some how in love with the General and pregnant with his daughter Annie swore she would give up her military career all together.

_Commander Shepard, I've heard great things about you._

"I doubt the Illusive Man spoke of me so highly."

_I do my own research, Commander. A pity you left Cerberus. We all sabotage ourselves in nefarious ways. Perhaps deep down you fear success_. Annie clenched her fists, having to remind herself that this was just a hologram and she couldn't break his nose. _Now I've noticed you've upgraded the shields on your ships. A sad waste, I must admit. You see I've upgraded Omega's cannons; they will tear through your defenses._ Annie glanced towards Aria, watching as the woman held her firm face but for a second she could have sworn she saw a nervous bead of sweat trickle down the asari's temple. _So again, I say, turn back_. But as Aria ended the call Annie was a little startled to realize just how crazy Aria was.

"Ready the ship and brace for impact. We're ramming the station."

"What?" Annie hissed.

"Omega is equipped with kinetic barriers that will keep my fleet from landing. My ship has disruptors on it that will shut them down on impact. Don't worry, Shepard, we'll probably survive." But Annie refused to believe that. She was crazy and soon enough that was made clear as they were forced to run for the escape pods, praying the blind ship would get them on the station. Fantastic start to what was supposed to be a simple mission.

The escape pod crashed into some random part of the station as Annie threw her chest restraint from her head. She could hear the movement of men outside as she readied herself, glancing over her shoulder at the rest of the escape pod. None of them wanted to be the first out. Fine by her.

She threw her body out, flipping and landing a hard heel into the top of one of the Cerberus men's heads. There was a firm crack and the man fired aimlessly into one of his own comrades, killing him instantly. A third guard prepared to fire as Annie rolled behind the first, shoving her omni-blade into his back and using him as a human shield from the third Cerberus operative's bullets. Annie then stood, pulling her pistol and firing two shots into the third operative's head. The remainder of the pod finally exited, Aria the calmest of the group as she looked at the dead men on the floor.

"As I said, Commander. Ground assault is where I follow," Annie smirked, sliding behind some cover as more operatives came to the crash sight. Hopefully they weren't the only ones that had made it. Damn, just thinking that made Annie aware of how Liara would react to this story once she got back. So far this whole plan had been resting on a fifty-fifty chance of everything working out. And she feared it wasn't the end.

They moved on, making it to the cannon control center in an attempt to turn off the over-powered cannons. The worst of it, though, was after they shut them down, when Aria began to explain exactly where and what her special rendez-vous had. In the middle of her speech Annie caught movement out of the corner of her eye, spying a camera as she whipped out her pistol and blew it to pieces, cutting off the feed. Aria had stopped, glancing between the commander and the smoking mess that had been the security camera. "There's a good chance your defenses at the bunker are about to get tested," Annie remarked as Aria glared at the camera, seeming to hope that the general could see her face.

As they continued on, they began to notice very curious looking signs. It looked like something Asian a red T, with three crosses rather than one, in the center of a white circle. Aria said it apparently belonged to the Talons, another group centered in Omega but seemingly harder to control than the Blood Pack, Eclipse, and Blue Suns groups. But as the pair was forced to make a detour due to some unplanned force fields, Annie discovered even more secrets about the dark Omega.

Throughout the station there seemed to be tunnels that crawled beneath and around every structure. Sure, maybe some people were lucky enough to get into one, but only Aria knew where they all existed and where each took someone. Or at least, Annie thought Aria was the only one.


	45. Aria's Untamed Demon

Annie felt like she was being watched, the soft rustle of clothes behind her making her snap around with her gun raised. "Show yourself!" She ordered as the shadowed figure seemed to smirk, walking a little more into the light with extreme ease considering the two guns pointed at her.

"Spirits, look who's back: Aria T'Loak." It was then the figure stepped fully into the light, exposing the hooded face of a female turian. Annie had to admit she didn't see many of them in her line of work; a lot of the turian military still seemed to be male dominated. But she could easily claim that the female turians looked far more graceful than the men.

"Nyreen," Aria introduced and Annie could feel the room escalate in temperature. There was a history between them, far more than just the exchanging of names. "What the hell are you doing here?" The fact that Aria then lowered her weapon made Annie even more curious. Since when was Aria so easy to trust? Friend or not.

"Playing cat and mouse, mostly. Just trying to stay alive. If it wasn't for these tunnels…"

"My tunnels," Aria corrected. "I'm sure glad I showed them to you." Annie had the sneaking suspicion when Aria had shown Nyreen these tunnels is wasn't for a situation such as this. Maybe there really was some romantic aspect to it all that she just didn't understand. Then again, as she looked around at all of the shadow-draped crates and small nooks it certainly was a good place to find a little privacy. Aria didn't seem like the woman that had a difficult time finding privacy if she wanted it, though.

"If you hadn't, I'd be dead or locked up by now."

"Aria doesn't trust easily. You must be someone…special," Annie remarked as the turian smirked, turning her attention between the two.

"I don't know, Aria. Am I?" Aria shifted onto her back leg, seeming to lose her patience in this back and forth. Annie couldn't really blame her.

"Shepard, this is Nyreen Kandros. Ex-turian military. We go way back." Ex-turian military? Explained why she was in here in the first place. Annie knew the penalties for fleeing active duty, hell she'd had to deal with some of the consequences herself. But that was Alliance, the soft, teddy bear military compared to the turians. Nyreen was probably a dead woman if she even put a toe in turian space. But then Annie glanced at the asari out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help but smirk. Her hunch was right. She could see it in the way Aria still dragged her eyes along Nyreen's body and yet Nyreen kept her chin raised, her walls firm. Perhaps that's what had made them a good match…or maybe a bad one from the fact that she'd never heard about her before. Of course, it wasn't like Aria was an open book with her own past.

But after that it was quickly back to business, Nyreen joining them as they fought their way across a small courtyard just as the bunker's cannons came online. It was exhilarating and admittedly Annie could say she preferred coming up against Cerberus idiots to the Reapers. At least with Cerberus forces she didn't feel like she had the entire weight of humanity on her shoulders. Plus it was always fun to know that she was indirectly fucking up the Illusive Man's day.

The bunker wasn't much but seemed to contain everything Aria considered necessary. There were extra defenses, a medic bay – that was being put to intense use after their "interesting" entry – a command console, and armory. But even then Annie couldn't help feeling like a sitting duck in the place. What did Aria plan to do? Just have them wait out till the cannon out there blasted through all of the general's forces? He wasn't stupid, which was obvious. The men that had died out there were expendable. He wouldn't continue to send wave after wave in hopes of one lucky guy destroying the thing. It would be simply too easy if that were the case.

"I have no intension of sitting around and you should both know that I assume nothing," Aria remarked after Nyreen and Annie brought up their concerns. "And on that note…Nyreen, you left Omega fairly angry with me. I wasn't aware you'd returned. Explain yourself."

"The truth is I never left, a fact I went to great lengths to keep from you." Annie watched the pair exchange dialogue, now realizing how entertaining her teammates found it when she bantered with enemies. Hell, she was even considering looking around for some popcorn while the pair sorted it out. And if she wished hard enough there might even be a catfight…in a mud pit.

"I'm not easily duped. Well done. But why?"

"I just…couldn't leave. Considering all this, I wish I had." Annie wished she could've seen what had happened between them. At least then she'd be able to understand the conversation between the lines a little better.

"Well, you'd always say I'd be the death of you."

In truth, if Annie was learning anything about Aria it was that at one point in the woman's life she'd gone to war before. She'd controlled an entire army and led them into the lion's den. Because there was no way something like this, with so many variables, could have gone this "smoothly" without preparation and previous knowledge on a similar circumstance. But Annie knew she would never hear the truth from Aria. The asari was better than anyone she knew at putting her past were it could no longer affect her. Which was probably why Nyreen interested Annie so much…because she seemed to be the one thing in Aria's past that still made her flinch.

COMMENTS: Sorry for the delay, after moving in I wasn't able to get internet until just now. Either way enjoy!


	46. Her Many Hidden Layers

Aria had Nyreen head off to check in with part of her squad, sending her right hand man, Bray, to keep an eye on the turian. Annie couldn't tell if she sent him for Nyreen's safety or because of Aria's paranoia. Maybe she'd find out soon enough…maybe not. Either way it was time for them to move onto the next part of Aria's plan and Annie could tell it wouldn't be anything to really look forward to.

"Shepard, remember those force fields we saw? The general has them set up everywhere." A schematic of the Omega station appeared in the center console, filled with red details but also odd sections of darkness, as if someone had taken out giant pieces of the place. "But what are these dark areas?"

"Many sections of Omega are powered down. I'm betting power is being siphoned from those areas to run the force fields," one of Aria's men commented.

"Find the source. Priority one. Shepard, we have work to do. Our losses were significant. We can't field an army large enough to face down Cerberus." Annie could hear the painful realization in Aria's voice.

"Then we need to find allies. Story of my life," Annie gave a small smirk, pushing away the normal culprits of hair that tended to fall in her face.

"We've confirmed there is a merc gang that's still active. The Talons are resisting the occupation." Aria glared out at her bunker, arms cross over her chest as her fingers impatiently drummed on her bicep. "Not my first choice, but they're all we've got." But it was then that Annie watched Bray approach them, seeming hesitant and Annie could only expect he was about to deliver bad news.

"Sorry to interrupt. I turned away for a second to off load some supplies, but when I looked back..."

"You lost her?" Aria hissed, a few wisps of biotic purple curling from her skin. She gritted her teeth, trying to keep herself from killing the man. A feat Annie imagined was easier said than done.

"This place is locked down, we'll find her." Annie noted but was met with another response Aria probably didn't want to admit.

"This bunker has secret access points to other parts of the station. Unfortunately, Nyreen knows all of them." Yes…these pair must've had something _really_ special between them for Aria to trust her enough to expose that. But suddenly Aria was quick to switch, to return the focus to finding an alliance with the Talons. Annie didn't believe Aria's frustration over the lost Nyreen was over, but it would have to be put on hold for now.

Aria and Annie charged through the station, following after the massive sound of explosions and gunfire between the Talons and Cerberus. Annie thought the Talons were just drug traders with not much bite to their bark. But from the looks of it Annie wasn't the only one making Cerberus' life difficult on this station. It made her wonder how such a selfish leader that Aria had talked about could control his people so seamlessly.

They entered through a door, interrupting a group of Cerberus attempting to "interrogate" a caught Talon member. He was intent on keeping his mouth shut, only seeming to anger the man holding the gun to his head more. They turned, noticing Aria and Annie's arrival and immediately all guns were pointed at them. At this point in Annie's career she knew situations like this couldn't possibly work out. It was two against a dozen, but that's when their knight in shinning armor came swooping in.

Nyreen jumped down, killing the man with a gun to the talon member before moving around and casing her biotic abilities to the rest of the group. Annie had to admit she was amazed by her strength. She had never seen a turian use biotics before and from the way Garrus had talked about it, it was clearly an art the turian's chose to leave to the other species. But Nyreen seemed to be different this time, no longer in her dark hood and jacket. She looked strong, helping the men to their feet as Annie came to the quick realization that these were _her_ men. She was the Talon leader. Convenient, considering she was just the Talon they were looking for.

Nyreen gave orders to the men as they followed without hesitation. That would explain how confused Aria was about the discarded red sand and the amount of difficulty Cerberus was having with taking out the Talons. Whatever had happened to the old leader didn't matter; Nyreen had somehow made them into a military-like force not to be reckoned with.

"My, my. Nyreen, aren't you full of surprises?" Aria cooed as she stepped across the room towards her.

"Aria." Nyreen's words were filled with concern. Annie couldn't tell if it was from Aria discovering her secret or the possible disapproval the asari might now have towards her. "The deception was necessary. I needed to figure out what your plans were. The people on Omega depend on us. I couldn't risk compromising our operation."

"So you stepped in?" Annie asked over Nyreen's shoulder, the turian typing several things into a computer as they conversed.

"When Cerberus invaded, the Talons were a mess. I brought…new direction. The general's been hunting us ever since. Right now, he's attacking one of our outposts. That's where I need to be." The computer suddenly shut down; seemingly empty of all important information as Nyreen turned to the two women. "Aria, Commander Shepard: whatever you're here for, the answer's no. Kindly escort yourselves off Talon territory." For a woman that had seemed so willing and eager to save Omega Annie was surprised to see her just cast them out without an explanation. Then again, Annie had a sneaking suspicion that wanting help to save Omega wasn't why Nyreen was denying them as she gave Aria a sideways glance.

"We're here to help," Annie remarked, attempting to keep Nyreen from getting away from them again. "We'll talk about it after we help save your outpost," of which she hoped would impress the turian enough to agree to what they needed.

"That's a generous offer. Aria, does the Commander also speak for you?" Annie was not enjoying being brought into their drama.

"Not the way I would have put it, but that's the idea." Her words were muttered, filled with venom as she refused to give Annie the pleasure of even a sideways glance. They both did things differently and while Aria had agreed to let Annie lead the ground assaults she was clearly still having difficulty giving up all of her control.

The group moved out form there, making the rough trip across the bridge to the base that was under attack. Annie had to admit she was impressed with how much respect Nyreen's men seemed to show her. She was clearly still soldier material. Annie just had to wonder what it was that made her walk away from it all…even walk away from Aria.

One of Nyreen's men began updating her on what was happening and then bringing up something called Adjutants. "Adjutants?" Anne questioned as Nyreen turned slowly, looking between the two before giving a small sigh.

"Creatures created by Cerberus. They eviscerate their victims' DNA, converting them into more adjutants."

"Some kind of Reaper based weapon. I fought them before. They're a nightmare," Aria added as Annie looked over the datapad Nyreen had handed her. They looked like someone had stuck an octopus on a husks head. But despite the ridiculousness of them…it didn't ease her nerves any.

Nyreen described some of her experiences with them, hesitating and skipping over details that seemed too difficult to recall. As the turian walked off to help organize her outpost Aria turned towards Annie. "The adjutants really got under her skin," again, Annie couldn't tell if that remark was meant to slander Nyreen or to worry for her.

"You've done an excellent job, Nyreen," Aria remarked as she and Annie climbed the stairs to the main control center of the outpost. "But I'll be taking over now," Annie felt a ping of annoyance towards Aria and her arrogance. Sure, she'd spent her life knowing exactly how to get what she wanted but it should be obvious that simply knocking Nyreen down wasn't going to cut it this time. "You know what happens to people who argue with me."

"And if I say no? You'll just kill me and take over? My people won't stand for that." Aria pursed her lips, a shock of tension settling between them.

"Yes, they do seem…nauseatingly loyal. Either way, I'll get what I want." It was interesting to finally see someone go up against Aria's ego. Annie had always just tried to avoid it, considering the sort of hold Aria had on her past. But Nyreen didn't seem to care, she knew where she stood and wouldn't let anyone, especially Aria, push her out of the way.

"Not this time."


	47. Riling Up the Troops

"The truth is neither of us can go this alone," Annie stated, attempting to move the conversation along while getting yet another annoyed glare from Aria. She was sure the asari was regretting bringing her here now. "We have to join together to take down Cerberus."

"You might be right, but the people of Omega are my priority." That was a major difference between Aria and Nyreen. The two women both wanted Cerberus out but for different reasons. Aria wanted it so she could settle herself at the top of the world again, but Nyreen was doing it for the people. Annie was starting to wonder if she was working for the wrong woman.

"You take over one gang, and you think you're ready to decide what's best for Omega? Nyreen, watch and learn," Aria hissed as Annie gave a tired sigh. Their entertaining banter was only wasting precious time at this point. Aria stepped away from the pair and onto a balcony that overlooked the outpost. Suddenly her image began to appear on cameras and Annie could only assume she'd prepared this speech ahead of time. "People of Omega. I have returned!" Annie glanced towards Nyreen, watching as the woman crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Like most people, Annie was sure she was having a difficult time debating on whether to shoot Aria now, or later. "Cerberus believes they have beaten you. They believe they have you under control. They are gravely mistaken. You are the lawless of the galaxy. You cannot be beaten, and you will never be controlled. Be ready! Your chance to strike out against your oppressors is coming. Together, will take Omega back!"

There was a cheer from the outpost and Annie could only assume from the belly of Omega as well. It was interesting to watch the woman and hear her speak; she was surprised at how influential Aria's words seemed to be, even to Nyreen's loyal Talons. Admittedly Annie even had to force herself not to give Aria a small clap at the end. No need to inflate that ego even more. But Nyreen was not so convinced.

"That's your plan? Throw civilians at Cerberus?"

"Anything is better than being locked up like mindless animals waiting for slaughter." Annie had to admit she agreed with Aria. She been there, held in a cage of her own crushed spirit. Every day she had wanted to break out, to run away from Mira and her evil antics, but she never had the strength to. Now, she would make sure Omega's people were freed. Nyreen quickly gave Aria the cold shoulder, turning her attention back to injured civilians as Aria smirked victoriously at the turian's turned back.

"What are you trying to do?" Annie asked as the pair moved away from the collection of Talons.

"Trying? The people of Omega – my people – love a good street fight. When it breaks loose, they'll be ready. Nyreen's code of ethics won't let her sit by if civilians are exposed." And there was the angle Annie was waiting for. She glanced over at the turian and then back at Aria, the woman seeing that Annie caught what she was getting at. If Nyreen wouldn't help them willingly then Aria would make sure she had no other choice but to help them. "It's what makes her utterly predictable and therefore easy to manipulate." There was something in those words that intrigued Annie, something more than Aria stating facts. There was anger, sadness…maybe even a little hurt. Annie was looking at the one woman that had emotionally bested Aria, and Annie didn't even know Aria had emotions to be toyed with.

Suddenly they were alerted to attacks around the outpost, making it pretty clear even Cerberus saw Aria's little show. Annie took out the immediate threat, which seemingly served more purposes than just protecting the Talons as Nyreen stepped towards her. "The Talons will join your cause. Someone's got to make sure you don't run roughshod over our people." Annie was surprised, mostly because Aria was right.

"You see, Shepard?" Aria smirked, holstering her gun as she stepped next to the commander.

"Let me guess. She said I was predictable and therefore easy to manipulate?" Annie gave a small smirk, word for word and it made her believe that wasn't first time Aria had said or thought it about Nyreen.

"That's a very good possibility," Annie replied.

"Not surprising," Nyreen glanced towards Aria but the woman had forced her eyes elsewhere, as if embarrassed that the commander next to her would make another undesired promise. "One thing, though; I maintain command over my people. This is not up for debate."

"Never crossed my mind otherwise," Annie smiled, offering a hand to cement the deal. Annie was never one for taking a leader's people. There was loyalty in that bond, a loyalty and respect that a stranger could never achieve. Whether the leader was a commander, private, or ex-military they deserved to run their men how they chose.

They returned to the bunker as Aria continued to explain the next part of her plan. Annie admitted she liked just being the one firing the gun for once. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy planning out the strategy but with the entire Reaper war on her shoulders she was perfectly happy letting Aria take charge of positioning.

"The Talons will be the frontline fodder. Now we just need to bring down the force fields to clear the way to Afterlife. Cerberus will have a million fires to put out. In one fell swoop, we'll have the people and the Talons working for us." It was ruthless…but impressive as Annie raised a curious brow. Aria simply smirked, seeming to catch Annie's thoughts in the small gesture, "Nyreen wears her weakness on her chest. It would take more effort to stop myself from exploiting it."

"I know many people that would call that a strength," Annie remarked, being one of those people. Aria gave a hard laugh, stopping her approach to the control center as she turned towards Annie.

"You mean her care and compassion towards her people?"

"No…you," there was a pause in conversation as Aria's features hardened. She moved close to Annie, lowering her voice.

"Understand this, Shepard, whatever fantasy you have in your head, whatever happily ever after you're hoping to find here forget about it. That's not how the world works. You should know that better than anyone, _Elle_." Annie had a feeling she'd just hit the nail on the head with her comment, considering how Aria acted. She simply let the asari continue on her way before following. Who knows, maybe Annie's comment would even stick with her for a while.


	48. Clearing Away Some of the Smoke

The two walked up to the command center and as Annie looked back over the schematics again, one of Aria's men started to explain where the source of the force fields were. "I see," Aria remarked as a bright flashing red dot appeared on the Omega holograph. "The general is siphoning power from one of my main reactors deep in the bowels of Omega's mines."

"Unfortunately, access is cut off by the force fields themselves," the salarian noted as Annie shook her head. She reached up and poked at one of the dark spaces on the image.

"Not completely. There's an open route through this dark area, then up."

"Hmm. The processing plant for one of the mines," Aria tapped her chin in thought. "It's been powered down. No force fields blocking it," Aria remarked, seemingly to herself.

"We infiltrate there, find our way through the mine, then take that elevator to the reactor's back door."

"Good eyes, Shepard," Aria complimented only for Nyreen to appear in the fray.

"Aria," Bray started, trying to cover the fact that he'd just let her in, "my patrol caught her on the perimeter."

"Please. You didn't catch me. We're allies now. Didn't Aria tell you?" The venom and death in the asari's eyes at the turian could've probably melted the metal walls off this station "I'm not sending my men into the breach unless I know those force fields are down for good. So whether you like it or not, I'm coming with you."

"It's almost as if you don't trust me," Aria cooed as Annie rolled her eyes. The entertainment of their banter was losing its initial "ooo" factor.

"It's exactly as if I don't trust you," Nyreen stepped up to Aria and it was only then that the commander realized the turian was taller than her. It was an interesting talent the asari seemed to have, making the world seem like it was a few permanent inches below her.

"Look," Annie snapped, stepping between them, "we're going to war together. I'll make sure we can rely on each other."

"Agreed, Commander. Glad one of you isn't on a power trip," the anger in Aria's eyes returned and Annie took a precautionary step back from the two.

The group dispersed, Aria needing to finish up some last minute orders as Annie decided now was the time to get a little backstory on the two. She headed over to the med bay where Nyreen waited patiently, smiling as Annie approached. "I was hoping we could talk," Nyreen started, "alone."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Annie smiled as Nyreen gave a firm nod, the two stepping away from the main crowd of people.

"I'm not trying to undermine Aria. I know she has to be ruthless," Annie found the comment surprising, but decided Nyreen knew the woman better than anyone. That had to count for something. "Let her have revenge. I'm not doing this for me, and I'm not doing it for Aria or what we once had," there was a small crack in Nyreen's voice at the end, as Annie gave an inquisitive look. From what she'd seen the past few hours what they "had" was still nestled in the background somewhere. "It's for the people of Omega, someone has to be their voice in all this."

"I have a question," Annie remarked, "How did you get mixed up with Aria?" Nyreen smirked, seeming to remember those happy memories with ease.

"I was happy in the turian military, but when my biotic abilities started to manifest, my superiors saw fit to reallocate me. They practically locked me away. I couldn't use my skills to benefit by people, so I quit. I floated around the galaxy, looking for a new purpose."

"And you found your way here?"

"More like I lost my way here," she laughed. "But then there was this beautiful, fierce creature who didn't let anyone define her." Another smile appeared on Nyreen's face, it was small and probably wasn't to be noticed. "I'll admit, I was mesmerized. I wanted a little bit of that to rub off on me." Annie was sure there was plenty of "rubbing off" that had happened between the two.

"How close were you two?"

"The draw was undeniable. Her strengths mirrored my insecurities. Maybe deep down, it was the same for her." Annie smirked, looking down at the floor as Liara's image played in her head. That seemed to be much of the same for them as well. And as Liara grew stronger, Annie found herself depending on her more, just as much as Liara depended on her. She ran her fingers over the center of her chest, knowing very well the necklace that resided there, reminding her of where she drew her strength. "But trying to be with her turned into trying to be her. Nyreen Kandros was vanishing."

And that's where the similarities between the two couples vanished. Liara had become her own person, the Shadow Broker, rather than just another extension of the commander's life. Then again, Annie had to wonder if Liara would have even made such a change to her life if Annie hadn't disappeared for those two years, forcing Liara to depend on herself over her lover.

"You seem like your own person to me. I can understand something like that isn't easy," Annie stated as Nyreen gave a small chuckle.

"Don't get me wrong, for all the drama between us, I'm grateful for Aria. She helped me remember who I am. It took a lot to break away from her, but I regret nothing." Nyreen looked over Annie's shoulder as Annie glanced back, noticing the old asari giving out orders with her back to the pair. "I do warn you, though, she tends not to take to someone unless she wants it. But maybe she's just gotten better at hiding it." Annie blinked, a little surprised by the words before holding up her hands and shaking her head with a nervous laugh.

"I'm sorry, you've misunderstood. I'm not here to try anything with Aria, that's the last thing on my mind. I have someone…someone back home waiting for me."

"Oh…I apologize, it's just…the way you look at her," Annie blushed; not realizing her sideways glances had even been noticed. They weren't to gawk at Aria or swoon, they were simply to try and read the woman to see if she could prepare herself for whenever Aria decided talking about little Eleanor was appropriate.

"Aria and I…have our own past," Annie admitted, "but I was ten the first time I met her. And our past is far less…enlightening."


	49. Risking Everything

Their conversation ended after that, the three diving back into the bowels of the station. For so long Annie had wondered what hid behind all of the doom and gloom and she had to admit…she wasn't that impressed.

They arrived at the darkened processing plant and already Annie could see how nervous that made Nyreen. For a veteran Annie had to admit she was surprised with how startled the woman seemed to be about what lied in the shadows. Only then Annie heard a low growl, her heart beginning to slam into her chest. "Adjutants," Aria remarked as Annie glanced towards Nyreen. The turian's head was snapping in all directions, trying to find the source. She looked terrified. "The general must've locked them up in here to keep them from spreading throughout Omega."

The group entered the power control center, switching it on so that they could get to the mines. Only then the source of the growling came bursting through the window. Annie jumped, swiveling and raising her gun as she looked up at an adjutant. The pictures didn't do it justice and almost immediately Nyreen was frozen in fear as Annie fired at the two soft spots on the top of its head. They exploded but only seemed to slow the monster as it dove for the turian. Out of nowhere Aria threw out a lasso of biotic energy, catching the adjutant around the neck and pulling it away from Nyreen. She pressed a boot on its face before firing two shotgun blasts into its head. Killing it.

Annie helped Nyreen up, the woman still shaken, "I hate those things," she muttered as Aria stepped towards her.

"Hate should make you deadlier. That looked like fear to me." Annie considered snapping at the asari but was quickly distracted by another wave of growls and shrieks. Clearly that wasn't the only monster living down here. But soon enough they were able to board the elevator as Aria glanced at Nyreen. The woman was quiet, looking out at the mines with her hand rubbing a sore spot on the back of her neck.

"What's eating you, Nyreen?" Area asked.

"Just processing. It's clear the general sealed that area to keep the adjutants in. But the creatures only killed the soldiers that were in there…they didn't turn them into more adjutants. I can't shake it – something's off."

"You're just spooked," Aria said bluntly, seeming to annoy Nyreen.

"There's a rhythm to this place, Aria. To Cerberus. If you'd stuck it out here, maybe you'd feel it, too." Aria got quiet, something Annie didn't believe to be easy but it was clear she didn't feel like responding to the turian. But as the elevator arrived at their floor, Annie decided she would just move on with the mission.

They made it to the elevator to the power core with a surprisingly small amount of resistance. Annie didn't like it, and thankfully Aria and Nyreen had noticed too. Something was up. But Nyreen was seemingly distracted soon after that as she looked over at Aria. "Why are you grinning?"

"We're almost there. When the force fields come down, this war finally begins."

"For some of us it started months ago," Nyreen noted as Aria casually rolled her eyes.

"That wasn't war, babe. That was just warm-up." Annie smirked; if she didn't know any better she might've believed Aria was getting all sorts of hot and bothered over this war. Whether Liara knew it or not, she had been right to give Annie the small warning. Aria looked like she was one big showdown away from pinning one of the two women against the metal siding and having her way with her.

They arrived at the core and Annie slowly made her way forwards, waiting for a trap to be sprung. It was all too easy, all too quiet for a place where the general should have required the most amount of security. And that's when it happened. Only a few hundred yards away from the reactor and one of the general's force fields appeared. "I have to commend you for your hard work," a hologram of him remarked as it drifted towards the three. "I gave you no choice, you had to take this route and I certainly hadn't made it easy along the way."

"Why don't you do this in person, Petrovsky? Get your own hands dirty?" Annie sneered turning and crossing her arms defiantly over her chest. "Ah, but I forget, you belong to Cerberus. Well known for sending out their brainwashed soldiers to do the fighting for them." The general frowned as Annie gripped her biceps tighter. She had no patience for men like him, trying to play God but not willing to feel the consequences.

"I commend your bravado, but you must understand when you are beaten." He ignored her snide comment, probably believing he was better than that. "You've been neutralized, and I can leave you there to rot. You might as well give up." His words didn't scare Annie. Due to Liara knowing the timeline of her mission, Annie knew the woman would be setting up an army to send to Omega the moment Annie didn't show after day three.

"Never!" Aria snapped, gritting her teeth as she turned towards the force field. Annie didn't like the bloodthirsty look in her eyes as she examined it for a moment before her body glowed in biotic power. Forcefully she shoved her hands into the wall, slowly beginning to part them as her body surged dark matter around her, protecting her from the burning.

"Damn it, Aria. You're forcing my hand," the general remarked before his hologram disappeared to show an army of mechs entering their cage.

"Nyreen," Annie called as the turian looked up from the asari, quickly readying her weapon. "Keep them off Aria," Annie informed her as the woman nodded, taking a protective stance behind the concentrating woman.

Suddenly Aria pulled the field apart to the right size for Annie to dive through, leaving the two past lovers to deal with the continuous onslaught of mechs themselves as Annie raced for the reactor controls. This had to be quick. She would not let them die in there. Annie put her cloak up and made a run for it, hoping that it would give Aria and Nyreen some extra time as she skidded into the room and up to the control panel.

But just as she started to hack into the terminal the general's hologram appeared next to her again. "You can't do this, Commander. There's more at stake than you know. That reactor powers life support systems for dozens of wards across the station. Shut it down and thousands of people perish."

"Fuck," Annie hissed, looking over the data on the screen before trying to think. Dammit this wasn't her area of expertise. She was a decent hacker but not under such pressure. And the giant red button that shut it down completely was looking very tantalizing. But then she thought back to Liara, to the woman waiting for her back on the Normandy…back home. She couldn't come back knowing she had the chance to save lives. Quickly she set to trying to reroute the power, all the while hearing radio chatter from the two women while she attempted to ignore the general. Nyreen was hurt and Aria was running out of bullets. Each moment made the red button look like more and more of a good idea. But it was then Annie noticed the line of code she wanted, dragging it into the program. The reactor seemed to shut down before suddenly warming back up, its heat levels returning to normal as it transferred power evenly across the station.

Annie breathed out a sigh of relief as she turned towards the general. The entire time he'd been trying to convince her that Aria was no one to follow, that she was willing to throw anyone under the bus to get her self on top. It was news Annie had already heard two times over as she turned towards him. "I'm not here for Aria. I'm here because you forced people to do something they didn't choose to do."

Aria and Nyreen made their way up to the control booth, as Aria seemed less than pleased with Annie's decision. The woman would get over it though, she was still alive, and the barriers were down, that was all that mattered. "Whatever," Aria muttered, turning towards Nyreen. "You fought bravely against those mechs in there, Nyreen. Very impressive. But why can't you bring that same grit when adjutants attack? It's pathetic. You tense up at the mere mention of those abominations…"

"Lay off," Annie snapped, no longer able to watch Aria push Nyreen around with her words. "She just saved you."

"I'm trying to help her, Shepard. Call it tough love."

"Well that's the most interesting version of tough love I've ever seen." Annie hissed as Aria squinted accusingly at Annie before deciding the argument wasn't worth her time.


	50. Her Final Sacrifice

They boarded the elevator, making their way down to the main battle as Aria was informed that the general had order demolitionists to blow up the main support. Apparently it would stop the Talon's attack cold and cut off any route to Afterlife. They chose to split up, sending Nyreen to the front lines with her men while Annie and Aria tried to find and take out the demolitionists. "Alright," Nyreen responded, stepping to the elevator controls as Annie and Aria prepared themselves. "But don't expect me to build your memorials when you get yourselves killed." Aria turned towards Nyreen and Annie caught an excited glint in her eye. She was not up for being a third wheel on this elevator while the pair decided to "work things out."

"I like it when you're feisty," she purred as Annie rolled her eyes, focusing back on the elevator door and praying for it to go faster.

They were able to deactivate the bombs without much trouble and begin their climb back to the Afterlife. Nyreen was holding her own but like all wars there were more casualties than Annie would have liked. As they continued upwards they discovered that because of what Annie had done with the power, it had let the locked off adjutants loose. Yet another enemy to worry about.

But as they were on their way to meet back up with Nyreen, the turian told them something wasn't right, that she had to go check it out. Annie didn't like the sound of it and neither did Aria. Going out alone at this point in the war was dangerous, even for someone like Nyreen. Annie could only wonder what had Nyreen on edge about this.

They charged forward, seeing if they could catch up to her only to watch as adjutants started to swarm the courtyard in front of the club. Annie wasn't up for fighting so many, but she would do it for the simple fact that it needed to be done. Only then they watched as Nyreen joined the fray. There were too many of them and Aria and Annie watched in horror as Nyreen set up a biotic dome around her, drawing in the adjutants just as a belt of grenades went off.

The explosion held in the bubble till it finally faded and Annie and Aria ran up to the scorched ground, no remnants of the adjutants or Nyreen remained. It was then Annie saw what anger Aria truly held. She stared at the empty space, clenching her fist as biotic energy curled and licked around it. "That's it!" She hissed, charging full force into the Afterlife and forcing Annie to run after her. But it wasn't in an attempt to protect, no, Aria was far too angry to need protection. She simply demolished any Cerberus troop that got in her path as they burst through the front door to find what the general had done to the nightclub. Annie was running after her in hopes that she'd stop Aria from blowing the station up all together.

"Nyreen Kandros was a good soldier. It's a shame she had to die for your petty ambitions." Petrovsky continued to stand apart from them, believing he was safe in his little office up above.

"You're a dead man!" Aria shouted before charging and propelling herself towards the general. It was then Annie noticed the man's final trap. But it was too late. In the center of the room he had fitted some sort of device that caught Aria in the air, holding her arms and legs apart by the woman' own biotic energy. She tried to wiggle her way out of it but there would be no chance unless Annie disabled it manually. So that's exactly what she did.

Once the threat was gone and Aria was free, she and Annie approached the man's safe haven, discovering just how much of a coward he truly was. "I surrender," he announced before stepping across the room to tell his army to back down. "Commander Shepard, I surrender myself into your custody," he said quickly. Annie could see the concern in his face, the worry that Annie wouldn't stop Aria from having her way with him.

"That is the most pathetic thing I've ever heard," Aria hissed, her body still smoking with biotic energy as she stepped close to him, giving him a biotic backhanded slap across his face. His feet were ripped from the ground as he was knocked into his desk, slumping to the floor.

"S-Shepard, I'm unarmed…and I can give the Alliance Intel on the Illusive Man." But Aria wasn't giving him a chance to plead his case as she grabbed him by his throat, slamming him down on his control panel as she slowly started to squeeze.

"You'll say anything to save your skin."

"But…I let you…escape Omega, I deserve…mercy."

"You deserve nothing more than the death you caused," she sneered only for her lips to purse again. It was as if a switch had gone off, as Annie watched the anger in the asari fade into sadness and pain. Aria wrinkled her brow tighter, using it to halt any sort of tears that dared escape her lids. "Do you feel that, Oleg?" A quiver lingered in the back of her voice. "That's death, only inches away. Remember this feeling." She leaned close to his red and choking face, "I'm letting you live…for my partner and for the war against your master. You'd better cooperate." She pulled back, letting him gasp and claw for the air that finally rushed into his lungs. "Take him, Shepard. You and your Alliance can decide his fate. Just get this filth off my station."

"Commander," the general stated, once he was able to breathe again. "I'm glad to see you've had a…calming effect on Ms. T'Loak. I tried talking sense into her one time. I look forward to hearing how you pulled it off."

"We're not friends, Petrovksy," Annie sneered. He believed he was better than what he deserved, that he couldn't be treated like the scum he was.

"What? From what I understand, high-ranking Alliance POWs lead fairly comfortable lives. You tell me, were you comfortable the last six months?" Annie grabbed her pistol, holding it up in his face as she gripped the gun tightly. This man was a monster, disgusting and inhuman.

"Now that I've seen what you're capable of firsthand, maybe Aria's instincts were right."

"So, you're going to execute me? I'm your prisoner! You can't just shoot me in cold blood!"

"I can, actually," Annie remarked, watching a bead of nervous sweat trickle down the general's temple. "But I'm choosing not to. If you don't tell the Alliance everything, I'm giving you back to Aria. And we'll see how cozy your arrangements are then. By that time she might even want to keep you around…as a pet." Annie sent him off with Bray, the batarian seeming quite pleased that he got to push the general around for a few.

"You've got good control, Shepard. I know it's hard to resist that impulse," Aria noted, her voice seeming to still shake off the lingering quiver. "I've been wanting to kill that man for months. Walk around with you for a few hours, and I go all soft. You're like a disease."

"This victory came at a cost, Aria. It's not soft to recognize that." Annie's voice was quiet as Aria sighed, seemingly being her only remark on that subject as she turned away from the club to look at general's office.

"There's a lot to rebuild. Starting with this…command center. It may take some time to remove the general's stink from my throne. Wonder if I'll ever really enjoy the pole dancing in here again."

"Aria," Annie remarked, reaching over to touch the woman's shoulder.

"I know what you're going to say, Shepard," she remarked, not turning her head to look at the commander. "Nyreen followed through where it mattered. I will not forget that."

"You were part of the people she was trying to save," Annie noted as Aria gave a small chuckle, finally turning.

"You know, I'm glad you turned out the way you did, Shepard. You deserved to give more to the galaxy than another Mira." Annie smirked and nodded, making her way towards the stairs to get off the station. "Oh and Annie?" The commander turned, finding Aria with her hands on her hips. "I do not react kindly to people poking at my private life a third time."


	51. Welcoming Home

Annie climbed back aboard the ship, barely taking two steps before Liara had jumped up and wrapped her arms and legs around the woman. She grunted from the force, adjusting her hands so that neither of them fell onto the hard metal floor of the shuttle bay. "I have the sneaking suspicion I was missed," Annie chuckled as Liara answered with a deep and loving kiss.

"Oi, Lola, you two mind getting a room? You're distracting Estaban!" James shouted as the pair pulled back. Liara looked towards the shuttle driver but Annie only glared at James. Estaban was gay and one of the many unfortunate souls that lost his husband in a Collector attack. Annie could see that it still bothered him, still sat with him on their down time. But he was also very good at putting on a happy face as Liara climbed down.

"Sorry," she breathed, giving another peck on Annie's cheek, "you must tell me everything that happened. I just started to get alerts from Aria about the materials she'll be providing." Annie smiled and nodded, following the asari into the elevator, waiting for the doors to close as she jabbed at the emergency stop button, halting them between floors. The commander pressed Liara into a corner, their lips colliding as Liara reached up to tug the tie from Annie's hair, digging her fingers into the waves of blonde.

Liara gasped as Annie started to kiss and nibble on her neck, "You couldn't wait…the few extra minutes?" Annie ran her tongue up Liara's neck till they were eye to eye again.

"Certainly not."

Her hand slid between Liara's legs and the woman bit down on a moan as she lifted her knee up Annie's side. "Well…I'm not complaining," Liara panted, the pair stealing several more kisses till Annie yanked off her gloves and Liara undid the buckles on her trousers. The commander slid her hand against the hot blue skin, diving under the soft fabric of her panties and between her wet lips. Liara groaned, biting down on the exposed part of Annie's neck from pleasure. Annie chuckled, sliding in a pair of fingers, thrusting her hand upwards, pulling a yip of pleasure from Liara with each curl of her fingers. They didn't always need biotics, the classics still did their job quite well.

"A-Annie…" Liara breathed, hips rolling and twitching as Annie sensed her lover's approaching climax. The mental connection was perfect for sex. It made it amazingly easy to figure Liara's body out without the woman trying to find the courage to ask it. Then again…Liara wasn't exactly the shy little mouse during sex anymore.

Annie pulled her fingers out, feeling Liara's body contract tightly around the tips before giving a hard thrust upwards as Liara cried out, body convulsing against hers. The commander felt her own legs begin to wobble as she breathed against Liara's neck. It wasn't as complete as having her own orgasm, but she wouldn't complain as Annie pulled her hand away, playfully licking at the moisture that dripped down her hand.

"To be continued?" Annie questioned as Liara buckled her trousers again before reaching over. She pulled Annie's hand towards her mouth, running her tongue up her fingers before gently sucking the remainder of her wetness off.

"Certainly," she panted as Annie stepped over, turning the elevator back on as it finished its ride up to the CIC. Traynor gave Annie a knowing smirk as they gentle blushing women exited the steamy elevator, Annie trying to casually fix her hair. But being the wise specialist Traynor was, she decided not to mention anything as Annie returned to work.

Her attention was now focused on an old friend, Eden Prime. They'd been informed that there was an increase in Cerberus activity around there and considering what they found on it the last time Annie figured it was another Prothean device.

Even if they didn't need it for the weapon, Annie wanted to make sure Cerberus didn't get their hands on it. From what she'd seen the only good Cerberus had done with Prothean devices was for their own selfish gain.

Either way, bringing along Liara was a given, she would know what they were dealing with whenever they got their hands on it. But if there was anything Annie was nervous about, it was simply returning to the colony. The place had apparently been rebuilt since the attack, but it would forever linger in her mind as the mission where her life had become a little…unnatural. Finding the beacon there all those years ago had set Annie up for a career she never thought she would experience.

Annie, Liara and Garrus huddled into the shuttle looking out at the planet. "Eden Prime," Liara breathed, glancing towards Annie, "where it all began. Where the Prothean beacon gave you the vision that warned us about the Reapers."

"Yes…such fond memories," Annie chuckled. The visions didn't haunt her as much as they used to, now they were just jumbled up in the rest of the chaos that was her head. Every so often she'd see flashes of it, but most of the time she could ignore them.

"And now with Cerberus here, Eden Prime's colonists are under attack again."

"Anyone else feel like we've spent more time fighting Cerberus than the Reapers?" Garrus remarked as Annie gave a slow nod. But it had to be done, if they let Cerberus get too carried away it could overall remove any advantage that they had over the Reapers.

"Cerberus hit Eden Prime hard," Liara continued. "Whatever they found here was worth a major offensive. There are survivors elsewhere on the colony, but they killed everyone near the dig site."

"They deserve better," Annie sighed, bowing her head as she thought back to Mindoir. She'd heard about her old home being rebuilt, about the security measures they'd taken. People had wanted her to return, to "cut the ribbon" so that they could say the lone survivor approved the colony. But she never did. She could never bring herself to set foot anywhere near it. In a way, having all of the Collector attacks and her six months in a cushy prison made it easy to avoid.

"I know," Liara could sense what else Annie was thinking about as she rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. "The Alliance did what it could to evacuate colonists, but Cerberus came in too quickly." Annie nodded, looking up back up at the enlarging image of Eden Prime as they approached.

"What about this artifact? Is it part of the Prothean device we found on Mars?"

"The Alliance didn't get any specific about what Cerberus has uncovered. But whatever it is, it's better off with us than with Cerberus."

"Agreed," Annie and Garrus said in unison.


	52. Waking After 50,000 Years

They touched down on the colony, hoping they could make it to the site before Cerberus knew they were there. And surprisingly enough, they did as Liara started up the elevator containing the artifact. But that's when they're "normal" mission turned…interesting.

"Goddess, that doesn't seem possible," she breathed, stepping from the console to watch the artifact rise up. "It's not a Prothean artifact. It's a Prothean."

"Like the Collectors? Or those bodies we found back on Ilos?" Garrus asked as a long pod appeared on the top of the elevator.

"Like the bodies we found back on Ilos…but this one is alive." Annie was stunned, staring at the stasis pod, knowing that the being in there was 50,000 years old and still alive. Damn, and she thought she'd lost part of her life after two years in a comma. This Prothean would have a lot to catch up on.

"You're right. That doesn't sound possible," Annie responded as Liara stepped towards the pod. She looked excited but hesitant as well, seeming to know that what rested in this pod could either prove or deny her entire life's work on their species.

"You saw Prothean stasis chambers in the archives on Ilos. The only reason those failed was lack of power. Cerberus found this in an underground bunker. It still has power. He's been in stasis for the past 50,000 years. Waiting for us. Think of what we could learn!" Annie wanted to try and calm Liara down, to tell her to not get her hopes up so much but the commander could barely believe it herself. What if this Prothean was one of the ones that worked on the device? What if it knew what this "catalyst" was that they'd been searching for? This being could be the savior of their entire existence.

"Good thing we brought our Prothean expert then," Annie smirked as Liara looked over data on her omni-tool.

"I hope I can help," Annie rolled her eyes, oblivious as always to a good humored joke. Liara informed them that they needed to find information on how to properly open the pod, explaining that forcing it open would kill the being inside. Fine by Annie, she just wished Cerberus hadn't suddenly decided to show up. Would've made this all a little easier if they could walk around as they pleased.

In truth Annie wished they didn't have to explore the colony for what they wanted. Every home was in ruins, the owners having been killed in them or thrown outside and then shot. She was having a hard time focusing; her hands were shaky, making each shot almost impossible. But they had to hurry; she would have to push on, to ignore the sound of her pleading mother in the back of her head. It was the past…she had to move on.

They walked into a research facility attempting to find out the same thing as Cerberus was. Annie attempted to search through what she could as the screen in front of her began to play out a scene very similar to the one on Earth. And soon enough she found herself being somewhat transported into the events, watching as Protheans fought off Collectors while Reapers trudged through their cities. She was specifically watching from the view of one soldier, very adept but in the end forced to retreat for the safety of his men. They tried to seal off the Collectors to delay their attack as he opened up damaged life pods, giving Annie the code she needed. Suddenly the memory was broken, fast forwarding and screeching through images she couldn't comprehend till she was practically thrown from the visions.

Annie held her head, blinking as her eyes focused again. "I…I think I can duplicate that to open the life pod," Annie muttered as Liara and Garrus gave one another a confused look.

"Duplicate what?"

"You didn't see that? The memory? The key code for the life pods?" Liara shook her head as Annie tried to ignore the small beginning of a headache.

"All we saw was static. The Prothean Cipher you received on Ferros…it must let you see the images as a Prothean would…and understand their language." That made sense, though Annie would prefer if it didn't result in a headache. She got enough of those on the regular to not need another reason to bring them on. Either way, they got the code and now just needed to find the program that would activate the stasis mode. Then they could get the hell out of here.

The next memory seemingly continued where the last left off, same Prothean, same setting. She watched him prepare his friends for the stasis pods but then frowned as the VI brought up the refugees that had yet to make it to the bunker. _We will remember their sacrifice in our coming empire_, the Prothean soldier stated. It was a pitiful line, one that basically said he wasn't going to risk his own life to save them. It put a bad taste in her mouth but got her the information she needed, on top of what felt like a kicking in the head.

Her legs wobbled as she gripped the desk, stumbling to the floor. "Annie!" Liara called, running to her side as Annie held her pounding head. Memories were swirling together, one moment she was watching a batarian shooting her mother, the next it was a Prothean. All the while the bang of a Reaper continued to sound over and over in her head. "Oh Goddess, your nose is bleeding," Annie lifted a shaky hand, whipping at it and giving a small sniffle. Liara rolled her lips together; they weren't in the position for Annie to be like this. They were so close to getting the Prothean out. "Annie…I'm going to try and calm your thoughts, okay? It should ease the pain for a little while," she cooed as Annie winced, nodding slowly.

Liara pressed her fingertips to the side of Annie's head, the hands glowing blue as Annie felt the memories slip away till there was nothing but a numb blackness in her mind. It was soothing as she pulled herself to her feet, getting a worried look from both Liara and Garrus but forcing herself onward. They needed to get that Prothean out.

After a firefight or two, the pod was finally ready to be opened, only, as the Prothean woke he too wasn't prepared for what he saw. He stared at them for a moment before seeming to throw a biotic wave in their direction, forcing them back. Annie corrected herself as he ran off, stumbling and trying to get his bearings. Liara was trying to warn Annie of his state, of the change in time as the woman stepped up behind him, resting her hand on his shoulder.

The touch threw her into another memory, the last moments of his during the Reaper invasion. She watched as the VI forced him into the stasis pod, explaining that it was for the good of the coming empire. Annie stumbled back, holding her head as the memories started up again. The Prothean was on his knees, breathing heavily as Annie used a nearby crate to keep her up.

"How many are there?" He panted as Annie winced, gripping her forehead tightly.

"Just you," she muttered, running her fingers above her upper lip. She stared at the blood, attempting to hide it. "You can understand me?"

"Yes…from that touch I was able to understand you physiology, your nervous system, enough to understand your language." He looked at Annie, as if forgetting to mention something else he had seen in her.

"I could use someone like you…someone with your commitment on my team," she remarked as the man turned from his position, watching Liara and Garrus approach from a distance.

"Asari. Human. Turian. I am surrounded by primitives," he muttered as Annie dismissed it. Maybe his culture didn't have the same common courtesies as theirs as he agreed to at least see what they were dealing with considering the Reapers. In truth Annie didn't care what his opinions were, she just needed to sit down…to take a nap. But her life didn't work that way as they went immediately from the shuttle bay to the cargo bay where the Prothean known as Javik had turned it into his home. Annie discovered the unique use of touch that the Protheans had, allowing them to transfer larges amount of information in very short quantities, like the beacons she had been exposed to. It reminded her a lot like how asari could link their minds with their bond mates.

Though, if there was anything Annie didn't like out of the man it was how much spite he held towards their species. He was the "superior being" having seen humans and asari when they were barely able to walk and write. Annie could see the disappointment in Liara's face that the one Prothean they found was a soldier and not a scientists. That he didn't respect her writings or the questions she wanted answers to. And worst of all was that Annie was in no mental state to respond, to demand some sort of politeness from him towards her lover.


	53. Choosing to Remember

They exited the room as Annie grunted, gripping her head with one hand and holding onto the wall with the other. "Annie," Liara breathed, quickly settling herself under one of Annie's arms and reaching up to take the woman's temperature with the back of her hand. "Goddess, you're burning up. We need to get you to Dr. Chakwas," she exclaimed, dragging Annie up the elevator and onto one of the doctor's beds. Liara attempted to explain what had happened as Dr. Chakwas went about checking her vitals. But in the end the only diagnosis she could give was to send Annie to bed. It had been days since the woman had gotten any sort of sleep.

Annie was sent straight to her quarters to be quarantined there for an entire eight hours. It sounded gruesome to Annie as well as an extreme waste of time but Liara was adamant. "I'll be right here," she assured Annie like a mother to their child. Annie didn't want to sleep, she needed to work but Liara would barely let her move in the bed to get comfortable. And eventually she gave up, drifting into a restless slumber as her subconscious attempted to sort through what she'd seen the past day.

Again she appeared in the dark forest, only this time the mist was filled with ghostly voices, memories of friends and families lost. _Please don't hurt them_, her mother screeched from one end. _You're just like me. I made you_, Mira echoed from her shoulder as Annie jumped and stumbled away. There was nothing there, only trees and dead leaves that seemed to stretch on forever. _You made the right choice, Commander. It has been an honor serving with you_, goose bumps crawled up her skin from Kaiden's words as she slumped into a bench that had suddenly appeared. She wanted it to stop; she wanted them to go away, to give her peace.

It was almost twenty years since she'd been taken from Mindoir, since she'd been exposed to all that death. She should have moved on by now, right? She should have been able to ignore the pain that resided in her heart towards her lost family and friends. But she couldn't and every day this war seemed to only make it worse. If she didn't save the galaxy than what would have been the point of her survival? If she was so special that she was the only one able to save organics then she was terrified for the galaxy. She couldn't have that sort of pressure on her shoulders. She was just a soldier trying to do her duty for her species and the galaxy. That couldn't possibly include saving their entire existence.

Suddenly there was movement next to her as she glanced over at the young boy hopping onto the bench beside her. He reached over and took her hand, "You can't help me," he chirped, the loud Reaper bang sounding soon after. Annie stumbled back, watching him and the bench burn.

As before, Annie snapped up in bed, the covers falling from her torso as Liara jumped in surprise from the couch she'd been sitting on. "Are you okay?" Liara asked as Annie gave a small shiver from the cold sweat on her skin, running a shaky hand through her hair.

"I'm fine…" she muttered as the asari came over, setting herself down on the edge of the bed. Gently she leaned forward and kissed Annie's forehead, pressing her cheek to it and giving a relieved sigh.

"Your fever finally broke," Liara whispered, pushing away strands of hair that had fallen back into Annie's face. "What happened back on Eden Prime?" Annie shrugged, tossing the covers off of her legs as she tugged herself slowly to her feet.

"Just started remembering a lot of things I didn't think I would remember." Annie muttered, pulling out pieces of her uniform from the drawers, remotely turning on her shower from across the room.

"Like what?" Annie stripped her torso of the tank top she'd been wearing and the athletic shorts, striding towards the bathroom.

"The attack on Mindoir, mostly," she admitted, turning her face up so that the boiling water would wash away all of the grime. Liara stood in the doorway before slowly beginning to remove her own clothes. "I keep feeling like I've moved on, like it's happened and that's it. But recently everything seems to remind me of it. It's like I just can't shake it anymore when I really need to." Liara stepped into the shower, suds on her hands as she began to rub them into Annie's back.

"In hard times we tend to remember the moments that made us who we are."

"Did you get that from a fortune cookie or something?" Annie asked, eyes closing as Liara's hands started to scratch and rub pleasantly into her scalp.

"My mother told me actually. I'm pretty sure when she said it she was referring to my performance in school…but overall I think it's true. I've even been thinking a lot about your disappearance, about the two years I had to spend finding my own way. Some days I wish it had never happened, but then I remember that those two years allowed me to grow. Maybe…maybe your thoughts are trying to tell you to remember what you've forced to forget." Liara's hands moved back down to Annie shoulders and then back, wrapping her arms around Annie's waist. The pair stood there for a moment, the water rushing down on Liara's back as Annie slowly nodded her head.

She didn't want to remember, but maybe Liara was right. Those days she had to learn how to be strong for herself. Annie had no friends and no family to fight for. Finding freedom would be solely because _she_ wanted to be free. And while Anderson had saved her from the ship, she had to be the one to save her own self from her memories, to choose to return to the real world. Maybe she could find some special sort of drive from all of that, helping her own self and in turn helping the galaxy.

Annie turned, cupping Liara's face and giving her lips a tender kiss as they both stepped under the steady stream of water. Suds mixed between them, her hair flat on her head as they enjoyed the quiet of the bathroom. It was innocent but peaceful as they stepped out, drying one another off.

"How much longer do I have till my quarantine is up?" Annie asked, adjusting the bra over her chest before moving onto her undershirt.

"Your quarantine was up about six hours ago, Annie," Liara remarked, multitasking between getting dressed and continuing the work she'd been in the middle of. "I went ahead and had Joker pick up the ambassadors so that they would be waiting for whenever you woke up."

"_What_?" Annie hissed, yanking on the last of her clothes and hoping up the stairs as she put on her other boot, far less relaxed than she had been. "And you didn't think to wake me?" She asked, throwing her head down to twist her wet hair into a tight ponytail.

"Annie," Liara remarked, following her out the door in a much calmer manner as they entered the elevator. "You had a fever of almost 104 degrees Fahrenheit. I had to make sure it broke before I let you go back to work. You know," the doors of the elevator to the CIC opened, "so we wouldn't have to take you to a hospital or anything."

"Right," Annie paused, glancing at the full room and for a surprising moment debating on just walking away. Of course, it was only for a moment before she told herself everyone would have to deal with the PDA as she gave Liara a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you," Liara smirked, finally letting Annie run off to her delayed summit while she returned to her office.


	54. A Species Only Hope

"There you are, Shepard," Wrex boomed as the young woman entered the room, still attempting to squeeze the moisture from the tail of her hair.

"Sorry about the wait," she remarked of which neither Victus nor Wrex seemed bothered. Annie couldn't exactly tell if the salarian was annoyed or not, they were so quick to move on from any signs of emotions that she could have easily missed the phase of the alien being upset.

"Don't worry about it," Wrex added as the group immediately dove into a heated discussion about the krogans. Victus was attempting to find some sort of friendship with the old creatures so that they could get the krogan to help protect Palavan. But Wrex made it clear that he would only agree if there were a cure for the genophage found. That's when the salarian jumped in, shouting about how she would not agree to let the brutes take over the galaxy again. This conversation was frustrating and exhausting. It was the same over and over again, but this time, rather than looping about the issue of no existent cure Wrex brought up some interesting evidence.

There was apparently a mole in the salarian system that had been feeding secret information about salarian research to Urdnot Wrex. In his possession the krogan had a video of the top-secret research center, which ended on a krogan female in captivity. Apparently this krogan was the cure for the genophage. Annie thought it was great, this was exactly what they needed as she asked the salarian ambassador to let the research facility know they would be touching down.

"No!" She hissed, "I will not let you just storm onto our land and force us to comply. We cannot cure the genophage or we will start the krogan wars all over again."

"You're so sure of this," Annie snapped, slamming her fist down on the table. "You're so close minded to believe that's immediately what's going to happen. But do you want to know what happens if we don't get this alliance? If we got have an alliance between the krogan and turians than earth doesn't get the turian support that we need. If we don't get that support then the Reapers will wipe out the majority of the human population. And then I won't be able to stop them and their extermination of all organic species will continue." Annie pushed off of the desk, moving towards the door. "Now inform your people of our arrival, because I'm getting that female krogan whether you do it or not. And I'm doubting you want me to shoot up an entire facility of your people just for one krogan."

The salarian stood there, angry but speechless as the commander and she glared at one another. Slowly the woman backed down as Annie gave a victorious smirk, "Bullies have few friends when they most need them!" The ambassador shouted after her and Wrex but Annie wasn't really listening. She had no worries about her friends' loyalties; they would fight for her because they believed in what she believed.

Of course, being with Wrex when they touched down he made sure it wasn't the more civilized of first impressions. He was quick to start shouting at the salarians, demanding they return the female krogan to his people. That resulted in Annie and her team to be welcomed by a firing squad and a handful of snipers up on distant rooftops. Annie sighed, rolling her eyes as she forced Wrex's shotgun down, apologizing for his violence.

The salarians were skittish around Annie and Wrex, but agreeable, remarking on how they simply had to finish a few protocols before they would allow Annie and her team to enter the facility. Annie couldn't blame the salarians wanting to keep the krogan out of their more fragile projects. Wrex wasn't happy but after a few careful words from Annie the tension was eased and Wrex agreed it would be a better idea.

So they headed down an elevator, welcomed by yet another unlikely friend of Annie's. "Mordin?" The commander asked as she looked upon the battle-scared doctor, getting an out of place smile among salarians. He acknowledged Garrus and Liara before whispering about how he was the informant. Annie couldn't say she was surprised. After what they discovered on Tachunka it was clear Moridn had emerged a different man. He had realized he had made a mistake in supporting the genophage and with the help of his student's unfinished research he tried to fix what he'd wronged. That's when he introduced Annie to the female krogan.

"Goddess…the things that this woman has been through," Liara remarked after scanning the woman with her omni-tool. Annie couldn't see much more than her eyes through her coverings but her heart went out to the woman. She had watched her sisters die while she survived. It was a feeling Annie knew well as she stepped towards the containment cell.

"Hello, I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance," she introduced as the krogan shifted her gaze towards Annie and then seemed to scoff.

"Do you plan to take me away and to continue the tests?" To think this woman had lost her ability to trust because of what happened…Annie couldn't blame her. Annie's three years in treatment in which she sat mute to the rest of the world had her feeling the same. Every doctor and nurse that came in to try and help her, every parent that wanted to take her home with them just looked like another slave owner to her. They just wanted to take her away, to force her to be something she wasn't. Anderson was the only person in her life that hadn't made her feel that. Annie hoped she could give that same sort of ease to the female krogan.

"No, I'm here to help you. We're going to take you home," she smiled just as alarms started to go off. There was an attack on the facility and Annie didn't need sensors to know who it was, who it always was. Cerberus.

Mordin over rode the procedures to move the krogan, bypassing everything they needed to get her up to Wrex where he was waiting on the shuttle. In the mean time Annie and her team set to work clearing the facility and ensuring the krogan got to where she needed to be. She was her species only hope and Annie wouldn't let her die.

Funny enough, though, was that the facility had a number of different creatures under surveillance. One of them was a close "friend" of Liara's as a Yahg came charging out of its broken cage. It took out a few members of Cerberus before hurdling itself over a nearby fence and into freedom. Annie smirked, glancing back at her lover, "Look, it's the next Shadow Broker," she teased as Liara rolled her eyes.

"Shh, if you listen really carefully you can hear it calling out something," Garrus continued. "You hear it? T'Soni…T'Soni…T'Soni…" Annie and Garrus burst into laughter as Liara surged ahead of them.

"Cut it out you two."

"Oh come on, babe, you know we're just teasing. Plus you've got some of the best protection the galaxy has to offer."

"Is that so?" Liara chuckled, flinging a man off the ledge with her biotic abilities. "You mean on the Normandy where half the time we're flying into Reaper invaded systems?"

"Well…when you put it that way," Annie smirked, firing a shot through the slot of a Cerberus guardian's shield and into the center of his head. She stood, turning towards the woman and pulling playfully at her chin, "I might have to consider dropping you off on the Citadel the next time we stop by."

"You wouldn't dare," the women squinted playfully at each other as Garrus made a gagging noise. Annie turned away from Liara, settling her sniper riffle over one of her shoulders.

"Careful there, Vikarian. You keep up this attitude and I'll set you up with the next technological genius and fiery tempered quarian that we come in contact with." Garrus narrowed his gaze, the group knowing very well she was speaking of Tali.

"I'm going to pretend you never said that," he remarked as Annie smirked, giving Liara a playful pat on the ass to get them moving again. Sure, this probably wasn't the best time to fool around but when would it be? Everything was always so serious; lives were always on the line. Annie figured both she and her team deserved to have a few chuckles here and there even if they were getting shot at. Plus it kept them on their toes.


	55. A Stranger's Hope-filled Words

Once the Cerberus threat had been put down and the female krogan was free they returned to the Normandy. Mordin explained that making a cure would be relatively easy at this point, that all it required was some tissue from both genders. It also turned out that he had named the female krogan Eve, after human mythology. Annie supposed it was appropriate since Eve refused to give her name to anyone that spoke with her. Again, Annie couldn't blame her. She'd been through a lot and even if they were helping her she probably would never let her guard down till the problems on Tachunka were resolved.

Either way Annie was curious to speak to the woman, to find out her story. She'd heard that the krogan women had been willing to go through the tests, that they'd been desperate to cease every stillborn brought into the world. Annie hated how easy it was to remember the day she'd become as desperate as that. The day that she could no longer take the pain and let the fight slowly started to seep out of her.

She had been lying in her bed one morning, which was a very small cot in the far corner of Mira's quarters. Annie was almost twelve. Her hair had been shaved the moment the slavers had taken her aboard their ship in an attempt to make all of the slaves look the same. For a while Mira had kept up with it, probably having to do with smothering the possibility of one of her female slaves stealing her thunder. But it had been about six months since Annie's last shave and the dirtied blonde was now a cropped mop of waves.

Today was the first morning where she didn't have to be dragged out of bed and didn't have to be beaten to stop her crying. Annie simply got herself up, preparing what Mira had attempted to drill into her brain by getting out clothing for the day and breakfast for when her Master woke. Most mornings she would attempt some sort of revolution, maybe forget to get a t-shirt or take all of the towels out of the bathroom. If she were feeling extra dangerous she would blatantly eat part of Mira's breakfast. When Mira discovered this the woman would be quick to punish her by a beating followed by humiliation. If she forgot a piece of clothing, like a shirt, than Mira would force Annie to spend the day topless, a fresh collection of whipping welts on her skin. If she ate part of her breakfast then Mira would force her to purge and empty her stomach, refusing to feed the child till the next day.

But today she didn't do that, instead she prepared it how she was told and sat patiently back on her bed, waiting the few minutes till Mira's alarm sounded off. Her Master sat up, ready to see a sleeping child in the corner. But the asari was surprised to find Annie awake, her face removed of all emotions as she stared at her Master, awaiting instructions. Mira went about the room, counting the items and checking her food. Everything was in order, pleasing her as she called Annie over. Gently she tilted the girl's chin up as she leaned down slightly, her violet gaze enchanting the young girl, "Did my good little Elle finally do as told?" Annie gave a quick nod of her head as Mira smirked, gripping the top of her hair painfully as she threw her stomach first onto the end of her bed, a biotic whip snapping form her finger tips. "Good girl."

It had occurred to the child that day that no matter what she did she would be beaten by the asari. She soon became dependent on her verbal praise, telling herself that it helped numb the sting on her skin and was better than nothing. It was pitiful and something she would still see herself do. Hell, being a soldier it happened all the time. Getting shot in the stomach could all be made better by a pat on the head and a remark on a job well done. Maybe Mira really did know what she was doing with Annie.

She entered the medic bay, immediately walking in on a conversation between Mordin and Eve as he attempted to set her up with Garrus. The thought was amusing, especially since Annie simply couldn't imagine it. Then again, her thoughts on Garrus's romance were decently shallow because she refused to believe he had interests in anyone else but Tali.

"For the third time, doctor, I'm not interested," she stressed, turning her attention to the commander only for Wrex to come charging into the room.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Wrex. You can relax."

"You can't be too careful…or put any faith in salaran doctors." Annie rolled her eyes at his comment. She could attempt to defend Mordin but she knew the salarian would be quick to prove his usefulness and genius in due time. Plus, Eve was the first to speak up for him.

"This one is different." After that the conversation was quick to turn to Wrex trying to escape Mordin's needles, which Annie found amusing. Man could take a shot to the stomach but would tense up and wince at the mere sight of a needle approaching his soft skin. Either way Annie now had a chance to speak privately with Eve as Mordin went off to continue working on the cure.

"Thank you for saving my life, Commander. I didn't think the krogan had any allies left in the galaxy," Eve stated, stepping down from the bed.

"We owe a lot to you, even if most people have forgotten that."

"They can be forgiven. Our action shave hardly inspired friendship." Annie smiled, resting her hips on the edge of the doctor's bed opposite Eve's.

"Part of being friends is knowing each other's name. I feel bad that I don't know yours." She remembered this sort of conversation with Anderson. Certainly the doctors could get the name off her easily enough with fingerprint and DNA scans but he was respectful, refusing to take the easy route in finding out. He was prepared to wait for as long as she needed till Annie scribbled it down on a piece of paper for him. And when she did, when she was given the choice to say yes or no without consequence either way, she had felt a little part of her humanity restored.

"I surrendered it the day I became a shaman of the female clan. I belong to my sisters now. But perhaps…" she paused, as if to smile even if Annie couldn't see it, "when this is over, you can know it."

"I didn't know the female krogans had shamans."

"Wisdom comes from pain – and the gennophage has made us very wise." Annie chuckled, unaware whether she meant that as a joke or not. "I can see you have had such pain in your life as well. You wear it on your face like a scar from battle. It has molded you but also allowed you to grow." Annie blinked, surprised at her remark. Very few people had noticed, and those that did were some of the most unexpected. "But like yourself, rather than surrender to despair, a few of us chose to preserve the ancient ways. We safeguard our culture, our knowledge, our secrets – so when our children live again, the krogan will flourish."

"That's certainly admirable, but how were you initiated?" Annie had to admit she was curious, if it was anything like the trials of "manhood" that Grunt had to go through than she would be impressed. The krogan had a strong reputation of taking things to the very intense limits.

"You're locked in a cave for seven days with just enough food to last. On the eighth, you'll starve." Yes, that was just as intense as Annie suspected it would be.

"What does that prove?"

"Your resolve. Every acolyte is given a chance: you either claw your way out through the rock with your bare hands, or you die."

"How did you make it out alive?"

"I started digging the wrong way." Annie blinked, surprised at the bluntness of her response. For a mistake like that she might've figured Eve would've forgotten it, scratched it from her story as to not embarrass herself. But the shaman had seemingly taken it as a lesson as she continued. "I was in complete darkness. Nothing other than my own heartbeat to sustain me."

"So what happened?" Eve then dug into the fabrics of her cloth, removing what looked like some sort of jewel mixed with metal about the length of her palm and two inches wide. Annie couldn't place its type, that wasn't her area of expertise, but it certainly would have been able to pick it out of the monotony of dirt, even in pitch darkness.

"I found this. A simple crystal. But it became my chisel," she then reached for Annie's hand, placing the keepsake into her palm and closing her fingers over it. "Take it as a reminder, Commander. In the darkest hour, there is always a way out." Annie opened her hand to look down at it, running her thumb over the dulled edges. The trial reminded her of the darkness of her past, the years of being numb to the world around her. She had always believed she'd waited for the eighth day. That she'd let herself starve by giving in to Mira. But she hadn't. She found her chisel, Anderson, and used it to pull her out of the darkness and into the light. This crystal would always be precious to her.

"Thank you for talking to me," Annie smiled as Eve gave a nod of respect.

"It's my pleasure, Commander. I'm glad to see humans treat their women with respect. Your people have placed a lot of responsibility on you."

"No more than your people have put on you." Eve then laughed, pulling a smile onto Annie's lips.

"Then maybe we can show the men how it's done."

"You've got a deal," Annie nodded before making her way back out and up to the CIC.


	56. Breaching the Darkness

The Normandy then made its way back to the Citadel; Annie was informed of a scientist known as Dr. Bryson that apparently had some interesting information for her. Interesting information tended to be somewhat related to the Reapers. So once they'd touched down Annie headed straight to his lab, hearing him instruct something to his assistant as she walked in. The place was filled with what looked like lots of random things that Liara probably knew more about. What did stick out, though, was the large Reaper part resting near the door, a small remnant of Sovereign. It made a shiver roll down her spine just being near it.

"Ah, Commander Shepard, we've been expecting you. Give me a moment while we gather some of the data I wanted to show you." He turned towards his assistant who was busy at work, "Hadley, could you gather the Leviathan data for us?" Dr. Bryson and his task force were in charge of researching myths and legends that might include the Reapers. Annie had to admit she didn't entirely understand why, it was pretty clear the Reapers were real. But it seemed that Dr. Bryson hoped to find something other than more proof.

But just as the doctor started to get into the meat of his theories his assistant came wandering back into the room. Annie didn't notice him at first; her attention on a datapad she'd been handed but then she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. The man raised a gun at the doctor, firing one shot into the center of his chest before turning on Annie. Instinctively she flicked the datapad at him, catching him squarely in the neck. He choked, doubling over and giving her the chance to spin around and kick the gun from his hand. It skimmed across the floor as she sent another kick across his head, sending him to the ground.

She looked over at the doctor, quickly running to his side. "Dr. Bryson," she pressed her palm against the wound, blood immediately staining her hand and seeping between her fingers. "Dr. Bryson!" She shouted but there was no answer as she pulled open one of his eyelids, a painful twist settling into her stomach. He was dead. Quickly Annie called for several C-Sec officers while staring between the unconscious assistant and dead doctor. These people were supposed to be safe from this. Had this war caused so much pain that even civilians weren't safe from themselves?

The man woke when in containment as Annie paced in front of him. She was debating on giving him another few kicks to the head. But he claimed to have no memory of doing anything out of the ordinary, of walking into the room or even shooting at the doctor. It seemed like a load of bullshit only for him to suddenly start screaming bloody murder and gripping at his head, "Make it stop!" He begged her before falling to his knees, slowly turning his gaze upwards. _Turn back_, his voice echoed, _the darkness cannot be breached_. And then he was dead only a few feet from the doctor. Annie glanced up, a sphere that had only just been glowing going dark. Something about it didn't seem right but she couldn't put her finger on it.

EDI had entered the room by then, believing she could give some sort of assistance with this case. Annie certainly didn't mind, because at least EDI seemed to enjoy scanning through hundreds of files. Of which almost immediately the AI was able to pull up an audio recording between Admiral Hackett and Dr. Bryson. It explained some information about the Leviathan project, but not much. If anything it just gave a clue to Annie to take a look around the lab and hopefully they'd find enough information to pinpoint the location of one of Dr. Bryson's researchers, Dr. Garneau.

They discovered that he was at a small mining facility that resided on the surface of a metal-dense asteroid. Apparently the place had gone dark over the past few weeks, or at least darker than it normally was. This facility didn't seem like it was the forefront of modern mining stations. Annie wouldn't be surprised if no one had checked up on the place's progress in several years.

Immediately upon touch down they knew they were on the right track, considering the "welcoming" crew of Reapers trying to get inside. To think that there was some being that unnerved the Reaper's so much gave Annie hope. What if this was the Catalyst? Or simply another Reaper-killing weapon? They could certainly use all of the help they could get as the group dispatched the Reapers and stepped into the facility.

Liara grabbed Annie's hand, stopping her as they looked around the surprisingly calm lobby. "Something about this place isn't right," she whispered as Annie nodded, squeezing the woman's hand in comfort before pulling away and stepping up to the glass window in front of the desk.

"Uh, hello?" Annie asked only for no response as she glanced over at Liara and EDI nervously. "Hello? Do you know there was just a group of Reapers trying to break in here?" The man at the computer looked up but his gaze was dead, as if he was some sort of mindless puppet.

"Are they gone?" The monotony of his voice reminded Annie of how Hadley had sounded in his last moments. Like something was controlling them.

"Uh…yes, we dealt with them."

"Then that is all," he remarked before returning to his work without a second thought. Annie raised a confused brow, looking at both of the men standing at the desk. It was like they were trying to put on some sort of charade to convince her team that nothing here was wrong. It wasn't working.

EDI stepped over to the side, pressing a button marked "ASSISTANCE" and immediately it was like they'd started up the show again. The man turned his face up, speaking to them in the same lifeless voice as he explained information about the mining facility, seemingly unaware that Annie didn't care to know about any of it. "Look, I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance and we're looking for a Dr. Garneau. He should have shown up a few weeks ago."

"There is no Dr. Garneau here," the man at the computer stated as Annie gave a frustrated sigh, running her hand down her face to try and wipe away the annoyance.

"Well do you mind if I at least just take a look around?" Suddenly both men looked up, their gaze unsettling Annie.

"The maintenance elevator is broken," they spoke together as Annie looked towards the elevator. Almost immediately one of the workers trotted away from it, the obvious culprit to breaking the device. "You don't belong here," they added before ending the conversation.

"So…that was interesting," Liara remarked as Annie turned her back on the window to look at her team.

"I'm going call your interesting and raise you a down right weird," she muttered.

"I do not believe poker references are appropriate for this current situation." Annie rolled her eyes as EDI's comment before the AI directed their attention to the far side of the room. "There should be a maintenance station on that side of the facility. We could get it to fix the elevator," Annie nodded. Part of her just wanted to take the people's advice and hightail it off of this asteroid. But it was clear that there was something wrong with these people. They were innocents but they didn't seem to have any sort of control over their minds or actions. How long had they been like this? Annie hoped they would find the answer after getting to Garneau.


	57. The Orbs

They were able to fix the elevator without any sort of altercations from the workers there. It was all a little too odd, everyone just sort of had the appearance of working but it didn't seem like any actual work was getting done. Even when they came waltzing through the labs no one said anything to them except "You should not be here" and then that was it. All Annie had to do was ignore them and continue on. For once the commander wished someone would do something about it.

But she couldn't focus on it for long, as they found information on a man in the medic bay that could hopefully be Dr. Garneau. It was all a little strange, considering how there were records of the man arriving and then requesting removal form the mines but nothing more. No one said they'd seen him come or go. It was always just about how Annie and her team weren't supposed to be there.

They stepped into the medic bay, looking around the space for any man fitting Garneau's description. Unfortunately, the first body they found wasn't looking very good. "Is that Garneau?"

"I certainly hope not…or we've hit a dead end," Liara commented as Annie gave a frustrated sigh.

"If you are looking for Garneau, you have found him," relief flooded through the commander. Finally someone in this place that seemed sane. "I am Dr. Garneau."

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance," she introduced, turning to his darkened medical room, the man's face covered in shadow. It was a little odd but nothing more odd than the rest of this station. "Are you all right?" There was a pause from the man as if he was debating on a lie.

"Yes. Only…I'm trapped in here. I was doing my research – until the incident," he continued, looking up at Annite but the commander still couldn't read his features.

"Look, I need you to tell me everything on the Leviathan," Annie asked, hesitant to just let the man go free. "Bryson seemed to think it killed a Reaper." Again he paused, each second making Annie more suspicious of the doctor behind the glass wall.

"It's a myth. A dead end."

"In your call to Dr. Bryson you mentioned an artifact," Liara jumped in, attempting to keep the conversation from going cold. It couldn't just end here, there had to be more to this project that no one was telling them.

"I did? No."

"You did, doctor, and now Reaper forces are here in numbers. I need you to show us where the artifact is so that we can get it and get out of here." Again the pause but this time something seemed to change as he shook his head.

"Reapers. The darkness must not be breached."

"The…darkness?" Annie questioned only to jump as the doctor suddenly slammed his fist against the glass.

_Why do you pursue me?_ The doctor hissed, though he clearly was just a vessel to whatever it was that was controlling him. He slammed his hand on the glass again, this time cracking it. _Leave the artifact. You will not take what is mine_.

"I don't believe we are speaking to Garneau," EDI commented.

"What gave you that idea?" Annie muttered in response as she took a few daring steps closer to the window. "You. You killed a Reaper. I need your help."

_You bring only death_. Suddenly the entire window shattered, forcing Annie and her team to duck away and shield their eyes as Garneau made a run through the facility. The group chased him, needing to get to him. But he was slippery and quick, able to avoid the Reapers just as they began invading the facility. Annie hated to have to stand there, unsure what Garneau was accomplishing while they were forced to take cover. But eventually the firefight was over and they came charging into a small room filled with rocks, the same sphere as in Dr. Bryson's office resting at the very top. Garneau sat next to it, a detonator in his hand. _Turn back_, it hummed before pressing down on the button.

Annie dove for Liara, tackling the asari backwards and to the ground as the explosion went off. A wave of heat hit her but otherwise everyone was unharmed, the artifact now destroyed. EDI was quick to locate the necessary datapad to tell them their next clue to their mission, a Dr. Ann Bryson. Only then a group of workers came stumbling into the room, confused. "Who…who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm Commander Shepard. Are you all right?"

"I think so…strange…but all right."

"Can you tell me anything that happened to you?"

"Not really…I, uh, remember…it just seemed cold. I remember a feeling. Cold and dark." Annie nodded before lifting her fingers to her communicator.

"Cortez, can you pick us up in the shuttle?"

_Yes Commander, strangest thing, though. The Reaper forces just suddenly broke off and left._

"R-Reaper…what's a Reaper?" One of the miners asked as Annie and her team gave them a startled look. Maybe they were just too far out…or something. Annie had a weird feeling in her stomach as she glanced at Liara and then back at the miners.

"What year do you think this is?"

"2176." The response was casual, as if Annie and her team were the weird ones for asking such an obvious question.

"2176…was ten years ago," Annie breathed.

They arranged to have all the miners evacuated and sent into quarantine as Annie tried to wrap her head around what they were dealing with. This thing had the ability to seep into people's minds and hold them in some dark place for as long as it wanted to. Ten years of darkness. And Annie thought she had had a rough time getting back two years of her life. Ten years…well she didn't even want to think about it.

Either way it was back to the lab in an attempt to find more information about this Ann Bryson. She was the daughter of the late Dr. Bryson and had seemingly been attempting to contact both her father and Garneau about the artifacts. Annie found herself staring at the dark orb, tucked safely behind some glass. EDI wasn't reading any sort of signal coming from it but Annie couldn't shake the odd feeling of cold that rolled up her spine. Were they dealing with some sort of rouge Reaper? It didn't seem possible. Reapers were sentient beings, following a set of strict programming. Then again what if it was like Legion? The geth that was its own freethinking being. Annie wasn't sure how to take it, but it only drove her to want to find Leviathan more.


	58. Ann Bryson

Annie arrived at Dr. Bryson's lab, EDI in tow. She wasn't even really sure where to start them off and only hoped the AI could dig a little deeper into the doctor's personal files. The fact that he hadn't even mentioned his daughter being involved surprised the commander. Then again, she unfortunately hadn't had enough time to get to know him for him to probably want to.

They looked at the similar glowing artifact on display, a nervous shiver rolling down Annie's spine as she looked away from it. "We need to shield the artifact right away," she informed EDI as the robot nodded. The moment the kinetic barrier lifted around the artifact the glowing ceased and it simply looked like a dark orb. It still didn't help settle Annie's nerves as much as it should have. "How is it we haven't been affected by this thing?"

"Perhaps it is directly related to the amount of time spent around it. Could allow for Leviathan to gain a strong mental connection in order to control whomever it focuses on. Perhaps Leviathan was controlling Dr. Garneau to protect itself, diverting people away from its trail."

"Maybe," Annie remarked, turning her back to it as she looked at the rest of the lab. "Just shows we don't really know what we're dealing with."

Annie began making her away around the lab, EDI bringing personal messages to the Commander attention. Dr. Bryson's daughter, Ann had tried to get in contact with him while they were off trying to find Dr. Garneau. She had realized the effects of the artifacts and was attempting to warn her father about them. Her message sounded worried and concerned and Annie could understand why as Ann started to speak about Reaper forces approaching their research bay. They needed to get her to safety if they would have any more chance of finding Leviathan.

If anything Annie wasn't looking forward to informing the scientist of her father's death. It reminded her of Tali's father and how painful it was to watch such a tough woman crumble into daddy's little girl. She didn't want to see that. But it wouldn't be right to keep it from Ann either.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to beat out the Reapers and arrived right in the middle of their assault on the research facility. At this point Annie just wanted to get out of there, pushing her team through the waves of enemies as quickly as possible. It was rough but they were able to get to Ann and on their way to the shuttle's pick up point. It was then, though, that the group began discovering some unsettling information about Leviathan and the rest of the Reapers.

Annie had noted the odd wall paintings as they moved through the site but it wasn't anything more than a glance. One, though, caught all of their attentions. It was a large Reaper hovering over what looked like a group of worshipers. Clearly, it was a Reaper, but none like any Annie had come in contact with. They then continued on only to take cover as they watched a group of Reapers from a distance. It looked as if they were trying to absorb something from the artifact. The orb was glowing in no way Annie or Ann had ever seen. "What are they doing?" Annie whispered, looking at them through the scope of her rifle.

"They've activated it somehow. I've never managed anything…" she stopped as an uneasy shiver rolled down Annie's spine. The scientist stepped out of cover, seeming to be in some sort of trance.

"Doctor?"

_They've learned too well. The darkness must not be breached…_ Again Annie heard Leviathan speaking through the doctor. Instincts had Liara running to Annie's side, worried Ann Bryson might try to take a hit at Annie without the Commander being prepared for it.

"Take it out," Annie ordered Javik as the Prothean soldier didn't hesitate and shattered the orb. Immediately Ann crumpled back down onto the ground, holding her head as she tried to comprehend what had happened. Sadly they didn't have much time to talk as the Reapers keyed in on their location and forced Annie to set their questions to the side. Cortez was coming in hot to pick them up and she wasn't in the mood for making him wait longer than needed.

They hurled themselves on board, the shuttle pilot whisking them out of the Reaper's grasp as the commander's team tried to catch their breath. Annie glanced towards Ann, the woman still seeming a little shaky. She couldn't blame her; she'd just watched her entire research team die and then fallen pray to Leviathan's mental grasp. Annie just hated to know that the bad news wouldn't end there for the doctor.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, Commander. I think so. I blacked out."

"Leviathan took control of you. We cut the connection before you got hurt."

"Leviathan itself? That's incredible." Annie tried to keep from smirking, glancing towards Liara. Only a scientist would find being brain washed and turned into a living zombie to be incredible.

"We were hoping you could help us figure out why the Reapers are so interested in it." Annie started, stepping towards her team as if to soak in the needed strength for her confession. "But first, Doctor, I have some bad news."

"Ann, please," she corrected, sitting up and turning to Annie as if she hadn't heard any mention of bad news. "Suppose Leviathan's broken away from the other Reapers? Never went back to dark space? Like a rogue or even a defector. I have to call my father. He'll want to know."

"Ann, you need to listen to me," she stepped up towards the doctor, reaching up to pull the fingers Ann had pressed to her ear. Gently she gripped her hand, as if speaking to a child. "Your father is dead," Annie bowed her head, hearing the gunshot that killed him and shutting her eyes tightly as the memories of other lost souls filled her mind. Liara stepped behind her, a hand resting on her shoulder as the commander looked up. Annie felt like she'd failed Ann, like she should have been able to save her father, like she should have known what was going to happen. "I'm sorry."

"He's…what?" Ann breathed, pulling her hand away and resting it in her lap, slowly tightening it into a fist. Slowly she shook her head, "He can't be dead," her words quivered but she remained firm in her appearance.

"I met with him…hoping I could find out what he knew. Something happened."

"Something happened?"

"Your father's assistant. One minute he was fine, the next – he drew a gun on your father." Annie stood to her feet, feeling Liara's hand fall from her shoulder to rest on her lower back. It was a small touch, but gentle, tender, and helped the commander feel somewhat grounded in this moment of confession. "I…I couldn't stop him."

"I can't believe this," Ann whimpered, looking down at her lap as she slowly unclenched her hand.

"We have to find out what's behind it all. You're the only one who can help us."

"I…I want to see his office," Annie nodded as the remainder of their trip was in silence. She couldn't help but feel responsible. She always felt responsible. Even with the loving touch of Liara's hand in hers Annie couldn't shake the feeling of failure. How could anything good come out of all of this death? It simply wasn't possible.


	59. The Source

Annie had allowed Ann to visit the lab alone, deciding it would be best to give the doctor some time before they continued on. But even when she arrives she could hear the soft sniffles and whimpers from the grieving woman upstairs. It had to be hard for her. A child that spent her life trailing after her father, begging for some sort of sign that he was proud of her. To know he was now dead and would never be able to say those desired words again must've felt like those fearful moments of suffocation Annie had experienced several years ago.

"Ann?" Annie asked as she came up to Dr. Bryson's bedroom, his daughter sitting on the floor with a picture of them in her hands.

"Oh, Commander. I'm sorry. Just…this is hard."

"Of course. You all right?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. My father and I didn't leave things in a great state." For a moment Annie felt like she was watching what she'd hoped she could have done as a child. She was watching the pain in Ann's heart, the regrets and fears dripping down her cheeks. It was foolish to want something like that, to want to feel true heartbreak. But it was something that made so many people human. Grieving for her family had been something that he been taken away from her and she feared no day would come when she would feel the same sort of loss.

"I can come back later," Annie finally remarked, beginning to turn away.

"No, please," Ann stood up, "I'm okay." She stepped towards the commander, a different look in her eyes: a look of vengeance. "I need to know what's on the other end of that artifact, what he died for. Let me dig into my father's work, see what I can find."

"Ann, you sure you're up for this?"

"Yes," the doctor stated firmly. "When Leviathan took control of me, I remember being somewhere cold and dark. But my father taught me to never be afraid of the dark." She rested the picture frame back on the bed, seeming to give it a final glance before heading back down to the lab. Annie smirked, glancing at the two scientists and thinking back to Anderson.

During his later visits, when she spoke some, but still little, he tried to tell her things that would relate to her past or the place she was in. But one day he found his concern for her too much to ignore. "Eleanor," he stated, sitting at the table as Annie stood on the opposite end of the room, staring out the window like always. "You look tired, have you not been able to get much sleep." Annie hesitated, looking out at the other children playing in the sun before slowly shaking her head. "Do you want to tell me why?"

It was then Annie felt a strange wave of emotions. Her chin began to quiver as tears rushed to her eyes as she sniffled and hugged herself. "It's always so dark," she whispered. "Little girls don't get to see when they use their eyes for crying," Annie breathed, trying to wipe at the tears before they trickled too far down her face, wincing as if someone was smacking her.

"Eleanor, would you like to hear a secret?" Anderson asked as Annie turned her face slightly over her shoulder to see him out of the corner of her eye. "I used to be scared of the dark too." Despite Annie's age she looked almost like a young child, maybe five years younger than her thirteen-year-old self. She was still growing back into a healthy teenage body as she fully turned to look at him.

"Why aren't you anymore?" Anderson smiled.

"Because I found a way to bring a little light with me everywhere I went. Do you want to learn how?" Slowly Annie nodded as the older military man gave a wider smile and gestured to the seat across the table, the young girl finally settling herself into it.

Annie followed the woman through the lab, listening to everything she knew as they ended by standing in front of the artifact. It all just sounded like a bunch of dead ends to Annie and she was getting worried that eventually that's what this whole mission would be. And Dr. Bryson's, Dr. Garneau's, and the other scientists' deaths would have been for nothing. "Ann, I know this is hard but if there's anything else you could possibly tell us-"

"I don't think there's anything more I can tell you," Ann interrupted, turning her gaze away from the artifact. "But maybe I can show you. The artifact only sends out a signal when Leviathan's controlling someone. So let it control me, you could trace the signal."

"I don't like it. But we're out of options," Annie admitted as Ann gave an understanding nod.

They took the necessary precautions before Annie watched as Ann was taken control of again. It was unsettling, but in the end it got them the information they needed. Leviathan was finally in reach and they were ahead of the Reapers for once.

Immediately Annie, Liara, and Javik headed down to the planet's surface that was emitting Leviathan's signal. She couldn't help but be a little nervous as they discovered the signal was originating from several leagues below the water's surface. And while Cortez promised that it wouldn't be a problem with the shuttle they were suddenly nocked out of the sky by some unknown pulse. They went crashing onto a nearby water base and fortunately no one was injured. Annie and her team then headed out to take a look around while Cortez tried to get the Kodak back up and running.

It was eerie to see, the whole place seemingly abandoned. It was covered in tents, all of them containing an artifact inside. They were not the first to be lead here. Annie only hoped that they were coming in with a little more knowledge. Though it wasn't much considering they didn't know what to be prepared for.

Suddenly Reaper forces started to come down around them, trying to hold Annie and her team back from whatever it was they were here for. But whatever had sent out that initial pulse wasn't having it. The moment the crew was able to get back in the shuttle and in the air another pulse had them skidding back onto the facility. It wasn't going to get them to Leviathan at this rate.

"Those Tritons over there might be able to get you down," Cortez shouted over his shoulder as Annie adjusted her aim so that she could see what he was talking about. They looked like Atlases, but with more water appropriate gear strapped on.

"Okay," Annie agreed, taking out a few charging husks only to feel Liara pull at her arm.

"You're going down there alone?" She hissed.

"I have to, Liara. We have to find out what Leviathan is and why the Reapers are so scared of it."

"But it's miles below the sea level! Those mechs are old and corroded! How do you even know they have enough oxygen to get you back to the surface?" Annie turned away, firing and removing enough Reapers to give them a bit of a breather.

"I don't," she confessed, holding the woman's face in her hand as Liara frowned. "But we can't turn back after coming this far." She then smiled, her thumb running along Liara's soft cheek, "Don't worry, I always come back." Annie then stood from her place, throwing up her cloak as she darted around enemy fire, climbing into the Triton and using it to take out some of the heavier Reapers. Then it was time for her to dive, sinking down leagues beneath the rest of the world. She could only hope it would come up with something as she slowly trudged along the ocean floor.

Finally she came upon a shelf that looked like it went down even deeper. Annie hoped she wouldn't have to descend, she was pretty sure the Triton wouldn't be able to hold up to the increase in pressure, and even if it could she wasn't sure it would have enough power to get her back out.


	60. Before it All, There was Something More

Suddenly the ground started to shake and Annie watched in disbelief as a massive Reaper-like creature drifted out of the darkness. She tried to keep her jaw from falling, but it was simply terrifying. It was as if she was looking at an organic Reaper.

"You have come too far." Her sight was hurled into the limbo of her mind as she looked around only to snap back to reality.

"I had to find you," she remarked to Leviathan.

'This is not your domain. You have breached the darkness."

"You killed a Reaper, I need to know why."

"They are the enemy. One that seeks our extermination." Again she was thrown back into her mind, this time burning grass surrounded her. There was no smell to it, but a familiar aspect that she couldn't quite pin as she blinked and the image was gone.

"But…I thought you were a Reaper."

"They are only echoes. We existed long before."

"Then what are you?"

"Something more." Again Annie was brought back to the grey world as she coughed burning smoke from her lungs, looking down as the dead grass crumbled under her weight. "Your mind belongs to me," Leviathan remarked as she slowly turned her face up to look upon Dr. Ann Bryson. "Breathe."

"Ann?" Annie asked, shaking her head but this time she wasn't able to blink her way out of her own subconscious. "What's happening?"

"Your memories give voice to our words. Your nature will be revealed to us. Accept this."

"The galaxy is as war with the Reapers. You killed one. Why aren't you fighting back?" Leviathan shook its head as he started to circle Annie.

"There is no war. There is only the harvest."

"Then help me stop it," Annie asked, turning to suddenly look upon Dr. Bryson's assistant.

"None have possessed the strength in past cycles. Your own species could be destroyed with a single thought. But you are different. I have witnessed your actions in this cycle: the destruction of Sovereign; the fall of the Collectors. The Reapers perceive you as a threat." It was certainly refreshing to hear, but Annie wasn't particularly thrilled that it was dissecting her brain to get at the information it wanted. "And I must understand why," Leviathan walked past Annie as she blinked and was then looking upon Dr. Garneau. Her head was hurting, trying to differentiate between the different people while also trying to keep herself sane. What was happening?

Annie blinked again and she found herself sitting on a bench and flinching as a blue hand slid its way across her shoulders. She glanced up, watching as Mira circled the bench before settling down next to her. It wasn't _really_ the asari…but she looked so real. "Before the cycles, our kind was the apex of life in the galaxy. The lesser species were in our thrall, serving our needs. We grew more powerful, and they were cared for. But we could not protect them from themselves. Over time the species built machines that then destroyed them. Tribute does not flow from a dead race."

The two stood but rather than looking at the woman eye to eye she found herself glancing down at a pair of young boys. It had been so long she almost hadn't remembered them, her brothers, Peter and Jean. "To solve this problem, we created an intelligence with the mandate to preserve life at any cost. As the intelligence evolved, it studied the development of civilizations. Its understanding grew until it found a solution." They had begun walking on the grass as Leviathan continued to explain, stopping as her brother's continued several more steps. "In that instant, it betrayed us." Leviathan turned as Annie blinked, looking up on her father. He was so young and yet grey had already begun to decorate his temples. She wanted to hug him, feel his arms wrap around her. But it wasn't him; it was Leviathan playing with her mind and her heart.

"It chose our kind as the first harvest. From our essence, the first Reaper was created. You call it Harbinger."

"How is it you thought creating this technology wouldn't be a bad idea considering what happened to those below you?"

"We were of a higher species. We believed to be above the issues of minor races. The technology was simply another tool." Annie felt like she was speaking to Javik for the first time again, hearing the pompousness in his voice. Because of their own pride they had created this mistake that Annie now had to destroy. Because of them there was a chance her galaxy would fall.

"Okay…will you help stop the cycle?" Annie asked stepping towards her father. But as she blinked the man in front of her was replaced with her mother. Annie stared at the goddess before her, trying to hold back the emotions that swelled in her chest. She was gorgeous, always had been, but this was the first time in forever that Annie was able to see her mother clearly again. Years had clouded her memories and yet here she was, standing before her.

"I have searched your mind. You are an anomaly – yet that is not enough." Leviathan turned away as the rest of Mindoir started to fade into focus.

"Wait," Annie called, reaching out to the woman, touching her arm as a painful wince stabbed her in the stomach.

"The cycle will continue," Annie shut her eyes tightly, her teeth gritted. She was tired of hearing that, of hearing each failure and death that was caused because this was just what needed to happen. Because that was the cycle.

"No! You've been watching. You know this cycle is different!"

"We will survive. You will remain here as a servant of our needs. The Reapers will harvest the rest."

"You release me, no one has to be harvested."

"Nothing will change."

"The Reapers know where you are! You can't just watch anymore – you have to fight! Even if you survive the battle today, the Reapers won't stop – ever. Release me, and we have a chance to end this once and for all." Suddenly her mother's imaged flashed to that of Liara's the familiar gentle smile resting on her lips. Annie gave her own small smile before she was hurled back into the Triton, blood dripping from her nose. The ground began to shake again and several more beings like Leviathan rose from the darkness.

She was tossed back into her mind, staring inches from Liara's face. "Your confidence is singular."

"I've earned it: out there fighting, where you should be."

"It is clear why the Reapers perceive you as a threat. Your victories are more than a product of chance. We will fight. But not for you, or any lesser race. We were the first, the apex race. We will survive. And the Reapers who trespass on this world will understand our power. They will become our slaves. Today, they pay their tribute in blood."

Annie was tossed out of her subconscious to the sound of emergency beeping from the Triton. Quickly she ignored the pounding headache as she set up the emergency thrusters, propelling herself towards the planet's surface.

COMMENTS: Okay, I have to admit, I'm running a tad behind on material. Meaning I have about three to four chapters waiting on the side. I plan to work more on that...but admittedly I'm having a hard time getting through the middle stuff. Or at least finding extra stuff to add rather than repeating the events word for word. But have no fear! I shall get it done! Just giving a warning if I skip a day or only post one chapter. In truth I've got a bunch of stuff written for way further in advance...but sadly I have a bunch to write in between that. Either way, enjoy!


	61. Seeing her Reflection

The Triton smacked back down onto the dock, the place infected by another wave of Reapers. God her head was killing her, it made it impossible to focus as blood dripped from her nose. There was a hiss as the top of the Titan opened and Annie forced the last of her energy on pulling herself out. She stumbled to the ground, her legs unable to support her as she collapsed onto her knees and then fell onto her side unconscious. Reaper beasts started to descend upon the vulnerable commander as Liara gave a few distracting shots at them. She dove from her cover, Javik doing his best to keep them back as Liara tried to wake Annie. "Come on, Annie! I need you to get up!" She shouted, looking over her shoulder as the Reapers returned their attention to the major threat.

Liara clenched her fists, anger surging around her body in biotic energy as she threw her hands towards them. A powerful wave of dark matter made smaller Reapers fly back while the brutes simply shifted slightly in their place. Again they attempted to advance on Liara as the anger started to swell into panic. They had to get out of here. "Back off!" She screamed, her body exploding in biotic energy, knocking them back a few feet but they still remained. A final line of defense had Liara curling protectively over the woman, cradling her head and begging for it all to be over.

Suddenly she started to hear what sounded like the brutes fighting something. She glanced over her shoulder, startled to see the two battling one another. One of them had a curious maroon aura around it but Liara didn't take much more time to observe as Javik helped her carry Annie on board and Cortez quickly got them off the ground.

Liara laid Annie on the floor of the shuttle, panting and exhausted as she lowered her ear to Annie's mouth. She could feel her heartbeat but it was slowing with the lack of oxygen to her lungs. "Come on, Annie…" she breathed, Javik watching in worry as they made their way back to the Normandy. Gently she tiled the woman's chin up, pinching the end of her nose before closing her mouth over the commander's. Liara breathed in deeply, watching Annie's chest swell with the air and then collapse again as she sat up. Again. Once. Twice. Three times and then all of a sudden Annie gasped to life again, the surge of fresh oxygen in her lungs forcing her to cough loudly and spit seawater to the side.

"Thank the Goddess," Liara breathed, falling back against the seat of the shuttle, trying to take her own time to collect her breathing. Annie sat up slowly wiping at her wet face and trying to get her bearings. God her head hurt.

"What happened down there, Commander?" Javik asked as Annie slid herself to the wall below the shuttle's viewing screen. She tilted her head back, taking in several deep breaths before cracking an eye towards the Prothean.

"We…we've got some new friends," she muttered before closing her eyes again, a pained wince drifting across her features. Liara shifted from her place, ignoring her own dizziness as she checked on the Commander, taking her pulse and checking her breathing. She was not physically injured, but it was clear she was in some sort of pain as Annie took Liara's hand from her neck. Gently the commander rested it in her lap, head rolling to the side to look at the asari with a small sniffle. "How many times have you saved my life now?"

"More than I'd like to count."

Just trying to comprehend what had happened those few hours was crazy to Annie. She'd met some of the first beings in the galaxy, the creators of the Reapers. The fact that the creators even existed gave Annie an odd sense of comfort, glad to know that the sentient monsters hadn't just appeared out of thin air. She wasn't sure just how much help Leviathan would do, but at this point in the war any win was a good one

Annie had stuck herself in her quarters, lying on her couch with an ice pack resting on her forehead. The headache was very slowly passing. She was _not_ pleased with how the creature had just invaded her brain and her thoughts, pulling people from her memories and dangling them in front of her face. Annie hadn't realized just how much she missed her parents till she saw their faces again. She had wished she could embrace them and hear their wise words in her times of darkness. If there was anything that she had gotten out of this experience, it was that she could once again see them in her detailed thoughts. After so many years her memories had started to blur, faces became more generic as did voices. But Leviathan had found a way to dive into the deepest of her thoughts and extracted the real image of her mother. Annie had never realized just how much she looked like the woman till then. She'd heard it as a child by neighbors and family friends but she was too young to understand what they saw. Now, when she looked in the mirror she could see her mother smiling back. It was…nice.

COMMENTS: Finally done with this mission. Never much of a fan of the Leviathan DLC myself, I always believed they could've gotten more out of it in terms of the mind control. But that's just me. Enjoy!


	62. A Favor for a Good Friend

After recuperating from all of that, Annie headed back out to take care of a special request from Wrex. Apparently a krogan team known as the Aralakh Company had gone in search of missing scouts who had reported rachni activity just before disappearing. The problem with this was that there shouldn't be any rachni activity. Sure, Annie had chosen to save the queen so many years ago rather than killing off an entire species…but the giant bug had made a promise. Bug or not it was a promise the queen seemed intent on keeping. So then why were they causing trouble? Especially right at the arrival of the Reapers.

They touched down on the planet's surface, immediately welcomed by the black ops-like team. Annie had to admit she missed having a krogan on her team. There was an odd sense of safety she got from them. In a way they were kind of like dogs, loyal to the end and willing to tear off however many heads in order to protect the people they cared for. Annie missed Grunt.

All of a sudden the masked krogans were tossed to the side by a face Annie never expected to see all the way out here. Wide smiles pulled on both Annie's and Grunt's faces as they tightly gripped each other's forearms. "Grunt! What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," he laughed giving her a playful but also forceful punch on the shoulder. "Didn't those idiots lock you up?"

"Relieved of duty," she corrected with a crooked grin. She and Grunt had a special connection, sometimes it was like a mother and son, other times it was more like a sibling rivalry. Otherwise she loved the barrel of muscle and there was nothing more truthful than a krogan's loyalty towards a friend. "But the situation changed," she shrugged as Grunt gave a hard laugh.

"Yeah, they got bigger problems all right. It's why I'm out here running Aralakh Company." He looked back at his team with a hint of a proud grin, "They're tough, think they're invincible, reckless, but effective."

"Sounds familiar, Grunt," she chuckled as he turned back to her with a pleased smile. "How did you go from being new and unproven to your own command?"

"When Wrex put the Aralakh Company together he needed a leader that represented the future of our species. Because of what you did for me on Tachunka I was noted as equal but also the strongest and was chosen to lead this pack of misfits."

"You were a pain in the ass, Grunt, but if your krogan are half the soldier you are, we might make it out of here." Annie smirked. The pair shared a few more friendly words before turning to the task at hand. Several krogan scouts had been reported missing in this area after passing through the rachni relay. It wasn't something Annie liked to hear. There was something off and Grunt seemed to feel the same.

They headed into the scouts camp, noting what looked like a massive sinkhole. It was as if the entire company had dropped off the face of the planet or as if something had dragged them from it. Annie kept her guard up, making her way carefully through one of the metal shacks to look for any sort of clue towards the scouts' whereabouts. But just as she stepped into the middle of the structure the ground beneath it gave way and Annie was tossed from her feet.

"Annie!" Liara called as Annie attempted to scramble from the floor to the ledge of the other shack. But she couldn't move as gravity chucked her to the ground like a ragdoll. She winced, dirt stinging into several fresh cuts on her face as oxygen wheezed its way back into her lungs. "Annie! Are you all right!?" Liara called again as Annie held up her hand, a thumbs-up being the best that she could do as she collected herself again. She really needed to bring something along that could take the fall for her. The number of times this happened was getting absolutely ridiculous.

Fortunately, though, it seemed she'd found a backdoor to whatever this place was, allowing Grunt to go from a different angle. He was a good kid, strong, still reckless, but good.

They made their way through the caves, quick to find one of the scouts dead by the door. Annie couldn't bring herself to say it out loud, but she assumed that was the same fate as the others. Either way they pushed on, looking at the odd collections of webbing and what looked like Reaper tech growing from the rock. If the Reapers were here then Annie could only imagine what they were doing with the rachni.

Soon, though, Annie's questions were answered as a disgusting creature crawled from one of the many holes in the cave system. It reminded her somewhat of the Adjutants back on Omega, but not completely. Like the original rachni it looked very bug-like, but had seemingly been "upgraded." For one, the pincers that extended from its back were gone, as well as its mouth. Instead massive sacks ballooned around the top and bottom of its head. At least, that's what Annie figured was its head, for two energy cannons had replaced it. From the sound of the shots against Annie's cover they also sounded extremely deadly. Annie could only hope the queen hadn't willingly agreed to this disgusting alteration.

Worst of all was that when the creature finally collapsed dead, the remaining sacks exploded to schools of spider-like monsters the size of Annie's head. One of them started to crawl up her leg and she couldn't help the small squeal as she smacked it off and slammed the heel of her boot down on its back. "That's a sound I've never heard the Commander make before," Garrus chuckled, firing his pistol at the final little bug.

"I have," Liara commented, making Annie scowl at the pair as they gave a shared snicker.

"Shut up…I was just startled," she muttered, adjusting her hold on her gun as she forced her team onwards.

The bugs were all over the place, but soon enough they were able to bring down the necessary Reaper barriers to look up on the bound rachni queen. She was about twenty times the size she had been when Annie last saw her. Then again Annie didn't know if that was because she was in captivity or simply because that was natural for their species. Either way she knew she needed to get the alien out. The creature had spent much too much of her life in captivity and Annie refused to let the Reaper's continue using her. Unfortunately that meant their escape from the place was going to take a little longer than Grunt and his team had the resources for.

They'd taken on the bulk of the Reaper forces, allowing Annie and her team to slide through the caverns. But as they made their escape it was clear the Reaper forces weren't going to make it easy. The group paused behind a cliff wall, hearing a small army of Reaper rachni around the corner. Grunt growled, reloading his weapon. "Shuttle's that way," he gestured behind him. "Go, I'll hold them off." Annie blinked unable to find the words as she felt her heart breaking. "Get outta here, Shepard!" He commanded as Annie forced her face to harden again, reaching over to rest her hand against his face. It was a loving touch as well as a proud one. It was the best that she could give without saying a chin-quivering word as they ran from the caves.

Crawling from the darkness Annie paused at the mouth, glancing back as Liara passed with a gentle brush of her fingers along Annie's shoulder. Annie knew Grunt was strong enough, knew he was devoted. But he was simply too young. She bowed her head, body tensing to hold the sadness at bay, before finally turning towards the hovering shuttle. Liara and Garrus were already waiting inside with melancholy expressions. The asari tried to give Annie some sort of comforting smile, but it didn't work. Only then the asari's jaw fell, eyes looking past Annie. Garrus too gave a sudden look of amazement, "Shepard," he breathed, pointing over her shoulder as Annie slowly turned.

And there he was.

Covered in rachni blood, Grunt stumbled up the dirt-covered hill as Annie ran up to him. He collapsed into her arms – without her biotic upgrades she probably would've been crushed from the weight. A smile of hope hung on her lips. "Anybody…got something to eat?" He asked as Annie gave a burst of relieved laughter, hardly caring about the blood on her armor and skin.

"You're such an idiot," she breathed as Grunt gave a weak chuckle, Garrus leaving to help Annie drag the brute into the shuttle. "But I'll make sure we get you some noodles once we get you to the Citadel." At that Grunt gave a satisfied smile, his eyes closing as exhaustion took hold of him. Annie knelt next to him, her hand running tenderly over his scaly head, like a mother towards her son. Someone had finally survived. Someone she cared for had risked his life because of her, and for once they'd come back. It gave her hope for the rest of the galaxy.

COMMENTS: I wanna just give a note...since the length of this story has started to become very real to me. I mean, I've barely gotten into the first part of ME3 and the story is already at 60+ chapters. With that being said I have every intention of looking through this again, making edits, and reposting the chapters once this is finished. I do have a request, if anyone is up for it. If someone wants to read through my chapters, make edits and suggestions, and then send it back to me I'd greatly appreciate it. With the amount of traffic this story has gotten I really want it to turn out well. If you want I could happily offer some fan art or something in exchange. Thank you and enjoy! c:


	63. The Second Victus

They dropped Grunt off and then it was on to Victus's sensitive request. Apparently the turians had done more than create the genophage when the krogans had gotten out of hand. As a plan B they had planted a planet-destroying bomb deep under Tuchanka's surface. He had sent a team to disable it in fears of Cerberus or the Reapers finding it and setting it off. Annie couldn't exactly say she was happy with the man, but hopefully she could help them finally be rid of it. There were reports that the platoon had crashed on the planet for reasons unknown. But the part Annie knew was the main reason for such a request was because the leader of said troop was Victus' son.

The landing was a little rough, Reaper forces having already touched down on the planet's surface. They were able to raise Victus, but with an armful of interference. Fortunately, it was clear enough for Victus to know to send a flare into the sky, giving Annie and her team a point to head to. All they needed now was to get through all of these Reapers.

It was easy enough – as killing Reapers go – though, what they discovered about the event worsened the closer they got. Apparently Victus had made a poor decision. He'd noted the Reaper forces and decided that it would be easier to avoid them by moving lower in the atmosphere. The issue with this was that they were now not only attempting to avoid Reapers but also buildings, cliffs, ruins, and eventually the inevitable happened. They crashed.

Escape pods littered their travels as Annie and her team did their best to hold off Reaper forces. They were able to save some of Victus' men, but unfortunately too many of them hadn't even survived the landing. Annie hated it. Not because of the choice that Victus had made, but simply because it had happened. Garrus went on and on about how this would come back and bite Victus, both the son and the father. He ranted about turian policy for such a mess up but Annie didn't buy it. The guy knew the risks as much as he knew the advantages. Sometimes shit happened. It's just painful that so many had to die for it.

"Victus has the blood of great military turians running through his veins. He'll be expected to not make mistakes like this," Garrus remarked as Annie looked over one of Victus' men that hadn't survive the crash.

"Children should not be responsible for their parents' successes as much as they should be responsible for their failings," Liara remarked firmly, almost angrily. It was a fair point and Annie could understand why Liara was so adamant about it. The asari had spent her life as the daughter of the great Matriarch Benezia. She was to follow in the woman's steps and yet rather than being an advocate for the future of her species, Liara chose to look to the past.

In some of their conversations Annie could see it still bothered Liara. She would forever wonder if he mother truly believed in her work. If she was ever truly proud of her. Certainly Liara had made a name for herself, but it was out of the view of the person she truly wished to impress. What if she'd done as told? Annie wondered if the pair would have even had the fortune of meeting if that was the case. Either way the pair would come to the quick remark that what had happened had happened. And it had made Liara into the strong and beautiful woman she was today.

They climbed up the hill to Victus and his remaining men as Annie introduced herself. Saying they looked a little worse for wear was putting it nicely. It looked like someone had come over and shot the spirit right out of them. Victus especially looked like he'd taken one of those bullets to the head as well as the heart.

"Commander Shepard," he remarked, doing his best to return a harden look on his features. "My men are in your debt. Thank you for saving so many."

"What's going on here?" Annie asked only for one of the soldiers to suddenly grab Lieutenant Victus.

"He screwed up!" The soldier shouted as Victus gripped the man's wrists, pushing against them.

"Stand down, soldier!" Victus hissed.

"These soldiers are dead because of you!"

"Hey!" Annie shouted, she was tired of all of this quarreling. For once she wished she could get through a mission without a political debate breaking out. She stepped forward, grabbing the soldier's collar and ripping him away from the Lieutenant. The force pushed Victus a few steps away in the other direction. "I just saved all of your asses, so everyone just calm down!" Victus bowed his head, quick to admit that this entire crap-shoot was his fault. "Look," Annie started, glancing between the soldiers and their leader. "Bad calls happen. Right now we just need to get you guys back to your mission before it gets any worse." Victus shook his head, glancing out over the battlefield and then back to Annie.

"Our mission is a failure. Once the injured have been tended to we'll head back to the fleet."

"You're giving up?" Annie blinked, immediately imagining the big bad bomb in the center of this planet going off.

"We're down thirty men. It'd be suicide!" He complained as Annie wrinkled her nose in disgust, stepping towards him and poking him in the chest.

"Lieutenant, you have to defuse that bomb. I know this is one of the hardest sacrifices to ask of you. But you and your men signed on for this. The fate of the krogan and your species relationship with them depends on you completing your mission." Victus turned towards his men, frowning at their discouraged expressions.

"My men have lost hope, Commander," he remarked in a much softer tone. "Even if I wanted to finish the mission, they don't."

"Their sacrifice means that others will never face what they faced here today. Remind them that those sacrifices have no honor if the mission fails." Annie hated to force this but it was a job every soldier had signed up for. So many of them forgot about that in barracks during times of peace. So many of them were used to training missions and the safety of their homes that they forgot about why there were really here. During times of war it reminds soldiers that they are to be protectors. They are to do what the rest of the world can't. Yes, it's frightening to know that diving into Reaper territory will ultimately kill them, but it has to be done. The galaxy would be lost without soldiers like that.

Victus turned to his men, clenching his fists as he gave a small sigh and a nod of his head. "Men! I own what happened here today, but we have to carry on!" The soldiers looked up in surprise, some even in anger. "We are turian, and we will not let Cerberus succeed. Our sacrifice is the difference between life and death for the entire galaxy!" The men slowly started to stand, gathering together in front of their leader as he continued. "Let the heroes of the Ninth Platoon be remembered for performing their duties with bravery!" The soldiers looked at one another before beginning to nod their heads in agreement. "Men, shuttles are arriving any minute – we're moving out!"

Soldiers saluted their Lieutenant before preparing to embark as Victus turned back to Annie. He asked for her help and again Annie was more than happy to oblige. She wanted to be there when the bomb was defused, plus with so few men Victus would need the added help.

COMMENTS: I made an addition to chapter 23: A Favor for a Good Friend. I realized the break in chapters wasn't right so if you feel like you're missing something here then go back and read the few additions I made


	64. The Hardest Lesson Learned

They climbed aboard the shuttle as Annie settled herself down on one of the seats, giving Garrus a curious look. He was staring at the shuttle's viewing screen; silent as he watched Victus and his men climb aboard another Alliance shuttle. "Garrus? You all right?" She asked as he turned, seemingly unaware she had been observing him.

"What? Oh…" he bowed his head for a second before glancing up, "ya I'm fine. It's just surprising."

"What is?"

"People." He turned back to the screen with a small chuckle. "You pin them to act a certain way from quick looks and stories. Only when you meet them in person you can't help but hate yourself." There was a pause from the turian, "Victus' son wasn't supposed to be promoted. Everyone believed his father had gotten involved. And maybe he did. But I think for all the heat he's gotten about it…it was the right choice." Annie smiled and nodded. She knew nothing of turian customs, of what was required to be promoted to the title of Lieutenant but she assumed they had to do something special. They had to _be_ someone special. For what she'd seen from Victus so far it was clear he had something in him. More than loyalty and strength, in truth it seemed more like care. The care for his men and his people seemed to know no bounds and she was sure he would do anything to save them. Then again…that also made her worry.

The team then headed north, following Victus as he instructed them on his plan. It was to split up, to take Cerberus on two fronts before surrounding the bomb. The plan sounded good and for a while it seemed like it was working until an uneasy realization came to Annie and her team.

"Has anyone else noticed that Cerberus is leaving?" Liara remarked as they came around a corner, watching as troops saw them and then bolted for hovering shuttles.

"I'd say they finally got the sense to run from us," Garrus started as Annie glanced down her scope at their destination. "But that would be too good to be true."

"You're right," she breathed, glancing at her team before pressing her fingers to her ear. "Lieutenant, Cerberus forces are evacuating the area. I believe they've armed the bomb."

_You would be correct, Commander. We're not far from it. I should be able to stop the count down and disable the trigger_. Annie nodded, ending the conversation as she waved her team on. What was actually happening with Cerberus was that they were taking all of their remaining men and focusing them on the bomb's control console. Victus and his men needed cover to be able to complete their mission. Annie didn't like it, didn't like any of this. It was all too close for comfort, all too based on each well-used second from the turian Lieutenant.

Worst of all Cerberus had planned for the possibility of interference. They'd set up a firewall that would make it impossible to disarm the trigger from the bomb in time. At least from the control center. Annie watched as Victus began to scale the massive arms holding the device in the air. He needed more time and so they did their best. His platoon was shot down as Annie and her team tried to delay Cerberus' troops. Eventually Victus got up on the top and began manually detaching the clips from the bomb so that the trigger would fall back into the massive hole. Only one of them was stuck, adding more time that they didn't have as he tried to remove the batteries from the remaining piece.

Annie glanced up, watching as he hung onto the side, barely able to keep himself up. "Lieutenant!" She shouted, her breath catching in her throat that worst happened.

The turian pulled at the last battery, having it fall into the hole as the entire battlefield seemed to stop and watch. The clip finally disengaged, falling from the trigger and bringing Victus with it. It fell into the hole, exploding on contact as Annie closed her eyes tight, the bomb left untouched up above.

Getting back onto the shuttle felt like a dream, Annie and her team in silence as they made their way back to the Normandy. Joker began to update Annie on the krogan forces, on how they were taking out what remained of Cerberus on Tuchanka. Annie's replies were quick and conscience, making it clear that she wasn't up for much conversation.

"He'll be honored for his sacrifice," Garrus stated once the pilot had finished. He looked at Annie as if he was talking to Victus' own parents. The commander began to nod but stopped, giving a sad shake of her head instead.

"Sometimes I don't know how much help that's going to be," she stopped herself, trying to keep from saying what everyone was thinking. What was honor compared to someone's death?

She climbed aboard the Normandy, quickly hurried to the negotiating area where Wrex was eating out the primarch. Annie couldn't blame him, considering that he'd discovered the turians had the ability to blow up their species whenever they chose. But she couldn't take the foolish prattle now. Not after what had transpired on Tuchanka.

"Enough!" She snapped as she stepped down the stairs, stopping the two in their tracks. "The turians placed a bomb on Tuchanka. And Wrex, you would've done the same damned thing."

"Shepard-"

"No Wrex. His own son died today making this right!" She spat as Wrex gave a small growl before turning away. Victus stepped up to her, his head bowed. He'd been hesitant talking about the bomb, but overall it was his entire species' secrecy that had caused today's events.

"I hope you understand my secrecy after today," Victus remarked as Annie looked at the war console in the center of the room.

"Secrets get people killed," Annie turned towards Victus. "You've learned that the hard way."

"Yes…the hardest lesson I am ever to learn, Commander." He turned away, his walk slow as he made his way up the stairs, stopping by the doorway. "My son…he died with the respect of his men. I wanted to thank you for that." Victus turned to face her, his voice steadying more. "His sacrifice will be recorded in the histories of the Ninth Platoon, something any father would be proud of…"

Annie gave a slow nod, able to hear the pain in his voice as he continued on his way. It was something to be proud of, but the man might not see it as such till after this war. Because of his hesitation his son had died; no manner of recognition would change that. Annie knew the burden of that shame well. It haunted her thoughts every time she shut her eyes.


	65. A New Beginning

But, like always, Annie didn't have much time after those events to relax. Mordin had finally finished the cure and simply required a way to transfer it to the krogan species. That's when Victus spoke up, walking into the war room in the middle of their discussion. He brought up the Shroud, a massive tower in the middle of Tuchanka that had been originally used to transfer the genophage so many years ago. Now it would be used to fix it.

Annie arranged her team but before she headed down to the shuttle bay Traynor told her that the salarian dalatrass was waiting for her in the comm-room. She knew it wouldn't be a conversation where she wished Annie luck in curing the krogan. "Commander Shepard, I am assuming you are about to head to the Shroud?" The hologram started as Annie raised a curious gaze. "Commander, you can't allow your misguided sympathy for the krogan to cloud your judgement." Cloud her judgement? What sort of bullshit was this? "Do you honestly believe curing the genophage will end in lasting peace?"

"We have to give them a chance," Annie snapped. "You can't condemn an entire race to extinction based on what _might_ happen."

"What will happen is the krogan will reproduce out of control." Annie pursed her lips, glancing over her shoulder and knowing very well she didn't have the time to dally. Especially after knowing that there was a Reaper guarding the Shroud.

"Why is it you're actually talking to me?" Annie had lost the patience for pleasantries with the salarians. Too many of them were close-minded. None of them could sleep well knowing that they were doing something on a hunch. So they used science and facts. And their research apparently told them that curing the krogan was a mistake, that there was a definite possibility in another war. Even if that was to happen without the krogan there wouldn't even be a galaxy left for them to fight for.

The dalatrass raised her chin, seeming upset but quick to move on. "Years ago, our operatives sabotaged the Shroud facility to ensure what you're planning couldn't be done." Fucking. Perfect. "Mordin will likely detect this malfunction and repair it. But if you ensure that he doesn't, then the cure's viability will be altered just enough so that it fails. No one will notice the change. In exchange we can provide you our very best scientists to build the Cruicible…and the full support of our fleets. Think about it, Commander. The choice is yours." And then the image disappeared, leaving Annie in a bit of a dilemma. She wanted both their help but wasn't willing to trick her friends to get it.

Annie came down to the shuttle bay, sill mulling over her thoughts as her team readied themselves, Wrex, Eve, and Mordin climbing aboard. Admittedly Annie couldn't ignore the anger in her stomach, the frustration. Why, when on the brink of galactic extinction, could _no one_ just agree to work together? Why was it so difficult to just fight along side old enemies to defeat something bigger? She began to spit and cuss as he armor proved to be a little more difficult to put on. Liara offered to help but Annie was quick to slap her hands away.

"I can do it myself, just like saving this fucking galaxy," she growled, finally getting the pesky buckle under her armpit.

"What are you talking about, Annie?" Liara asked as Annie started to pull on her gloves.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," she hissed, once again finding difficulty in pulling on her equipment. "God dammit just get on!" She blurted out, slamming her left fist into a nearby metal crate. It crumpled under the force, also shifting the high-tech glove down correctly as pain radiated up her arm. The shuttle bay was silent, startled looks of crewmates and friends turned towards Annie as she tried to ignore them. Painfully she clenched her fist, repeating the motion till the soreness became tolerable as she climbed aboard.

It was a silent trip to Tuchanka.

They touched down, Cortez heading back up to Normandy. Annie was getting chatter from the primarch, the turian agreeing that they needed added fighters to help distract the Reaper. Everyone seemed to want to ignore what had happened back on the Normandy, especially Annie, but she couldn't help how bothered she was by Liara's sideways glances. At first they looked worried but as the minutes passed it was clear the asari had just started to ignore her. She would focus on Eve or on the viewing screen. Not that Annie always needed Liara's attention, but she certainly wasn't enjoying the cold shoulder.

Quickly the group made their way into some sacred temple of sorts. Husks having already invaded the space as Annie and her team did away with them. In truth, though, the husks weren't the real problem as angered krogans started to surround them. "What's a salarian doing here?" One of them accused, Annie assumed he was one of the leaders for a rival clan. "Nobody said anything about this." What was even more enlightening was that he was actually the brother of Wrex. Though from the way the two spoke to one another Annie assumed "siblings" didn't exactly exist in krogan culture.

"This salarian is not your enemy. He's here to help cure the genophage," Annie announced as the krogan growled and stepped threateningly towards them

"His kind gave us the genophage. Why should we trust him?" Suddenly Wrex slammed his head into his brother's, knocking him back without any sort of waver from Wrex.

"Because I do." His brother then growled, among a few other easily tempered krogan.

"Enough!" Eve shouted from the top of the temple's stairs. The room turned to her and Annie had to admit she looked like a threatening and powerful sight. She had heard how the females were the ones to rule the krogan but had never experienced it. All Annie saw were the males' brutality. Females were hidden away. But as she looked upon Eve, standing high above her people, it was clear she was more than a survivor. She was a leader.

"You can stay here and let old wounds fester as krogan have always done," she continued. "Or you can fight the enemy you were born to destroy," she climbed down the stairs, moving past the suddenly quieted krogan hordes and up onto the pedestal in the center of the space. "And win a new future for our children. I choose to fight. Who will join me?" Annie smirked, stepping from the crowd as she held up her head. She looked small in such a large group of house-sized beings, but just like Eve she stood out.

"I will."

"As will I," Liara commented, stepping next to her lover. Slowly Garrus joined, then Mordin. Wrex practically threw himself in line and Annie had to try and keep herself from laughing as she felt Liara wrap her hand tightly around hers.

"Now hold your heads high like true krogan! There's a Reaper that needs killing!" Wrex roared as the room boomed with approving growls and roars, even Wrex's brother gave an agreeable nod. It was time to cure the genophage.


	66. Into the Thresher Maw's Den

The group piled into one of the krogan's ground transports. It was a little small – though that could be because of the multiple krogan inside – but it reminded Annie a lot of the good old Mako. They headed towards the Shroud, Annie getting updates on the ready turian fleet. This was going to work. It had to.

"Commander," Eve asked as Annie turned away from her conversation to give the female her attention. "There is something troubling you. Something recent," she commented as Annie felt her stomach swirl. "I had intensions of asking you on the shuttle but the trip was a little more chaotic than I initially intended." Annie bowed her head, holding onto the side of the truck as it jostled.

"The salarian dalatrass contacted me before we left," she started, glancing towards Mordin. She couldn't lie to him or any of them for that matter. "She told me that the Shroud had been sabotaged years ago to keep any future teams from curing the genophage." Wrex growled in annoyance but Annie wasn't even done with the bad news. "She promised me necessary resources to lie to you and convince you that nothing was wrong. You would think you were cured and I would get help from the salarians."

"And what did you decide?" Eve asked, which for a moment Annie considered to be an odd question. But then she realized Eve wasn't asking about the mission at hand. She wasn't asking if Annie had made the right choice for the war. She was asking if Annie had made the right choice in her opinion.

"Mordin should be able to correct the issue once at the Shroud," Annie answered, getting a small nod from Eve as Mordin brought up his omni-tool.

"Shouldn't be a problem. Expected delay. Can be remedied," he explained. Suddenly the truck stopped, the bridge ahead of them out as Annie and her team exited the vehicle. They looked it over as Annie tried to find some sort of solution. Unfortunately their current path had them too high up for the trucks to simply launch themselves off the edge and go around.

"Attention turian fleet, hold off your attack. We've been delayed," Annie remarked into her communicator.

_No can do, Commander. Our attack is locked. The Reaper knows our position._ Suddenly turian cruisers came streaming overhead towards the Shroud. The giant Reaper gave a terrifying boom at it attack the cruisers, sending a flaming ship towards them.

Annie found her feet frozen before Liara yanked her from her place. The asari tackled Annie around the waist, pulling her out of the way just in time as the cruiser smashed into one of the krogan vehicles. An explosion resulted from the impact, tossing another vehicle from its place to land perfectly in the gap. Annie looked up and then over at the truck with Wrex and Eve in it, "Wrex, get the female out of here now! Go!" She shouted as the truck zoomed across the new bridge, the structure only able to take another vehicle till it fell.

Slowly the group pulled themselves to their feet, focusing in on a nearby opening. It looked like it was going down and Annie could only hope it would lead them around as well.

As they went deeper, though, Annie discovered they were walking through Ancient krogan halls. The walls were painted with different depictions of the krogan and the rachni, there was even one that looked like a thresher maw. Either way, they were fortunately able to find a way out only to come up on something even more beautiful.

_Commander, are you all right?_ Eve asked over the communicators. Annie and her team were simply standing there in awe, looking up on what must've been a major center for the destroyed city.

"Yes…we're just fine."

_Do you see anything?_

"Green," Liara answered. Tuchanka had been attacked by nuclear weaponry during the krogan rebellions; the grounds were filled with radiation and shouldn't have been able to grow anything. And yet here they were, looking at new and beautiful life twisting and sprouting from the rubble. It was breath taking.

But they didn't have much time to dally as they surged forward, discovering this place had more than just a big Reaper wanting to kill them. Tuchanka had always been known for its thresher maw population but Annie came to learn about a particularly special one. Kalros was known as the mother of all thresher maws. And due to the fact that just the horned spine diving in and out of the sands was bigger than the last thresher maw she'd fought…Annie knew not to take her lightly.

It chased them as they made their way through the old krogan city, finally able to meet up with Wrex, Eve, and Mordin. It was a bit edgy at times, Kalros now taking the only remaining truck other than the one Annie was in. But they were in range of the Shroud now, the turians able to make another air strike, but it still wasn't enough to pull the Reaper from its place. Which was when Eve announced her genius and somewhat crazy plan.

"Kalros. We summon her to the Reaper. The tower was built in an arena devoted to Kalros' glory. The salarians thought she would scare away intruders. If you can activate the two maw-hammers Kalros will come. That should distract the Reaper."

"Okay," Annie nodded, "let's make sure we all get out of here alive. We're going to have one hell of a story to tell." Wrex then stepped up, stopping Annie from proceeding into the arena.

"Wait, I want you to know that no matter what happens you've been a champion to the krogan people. A friend of clan Urdnot and a sister to me," Wrex started, taking hold of her forearm, "To every krogan born after this day, the name 'Shepard' will mean 'hero!'" Annie had to admit she was flattered only for the moment to be broken as Wrex went charging into an approaching Reaper-rachni army. They split from there, Mordin and Eve heading to the Shroud while Annie and her team headed towards the Reaper.

This was absolutely insane. Sure, she'd done some out-of-the-world things in her days, but right now topped it. She was to run _towards_ a Reaper, activate two giant-ass gongs, pray that a massive thresher maw will come and eat the Reaper, and then make her way to the Shroud. It was times like this she wondered what it would be like to be an accountant.


	67. Doing the Unbelievable

"Stay in cover," she ordered as they ran forward, ducking behind knocked over pillars and half-destroyed walls. The Reapers were there in numbers as well; brutes swarming the arena as Annie hoped her team could hold them off with enough time to set off the hammers.

Liara darted off in one direction while Garrus darted off in the other. Each of them took a brute that had come rocketing into the sand. If only there were three of them to deal with. It seemed like each time they took out one, two more slammed down. They couldn't keep this up, not only because they'd be out of ammo soon, but also because the turians couldn't keep the Reaper's attention split for so long.

"Garrus, I need you to hold," she shouted at him as the turian looked up. Immediately he military man could see what she was getting at. She would need to make a run for it that was the only way. So he nodded his head as Annie pulled her cloak over her figure and darted up the first flight of stairs. Forcefully she smacked her fist down on the button, the hammer dropping and hitting the gong with a loud clang. Of course, the Reaper chose not to ignore this as it slammed a foot – if that's what one would call it – mere inches from Annie. The commander was hurled from her feet and back into the mess of brutes as her cloak faded.

"Come on, Annie, no time for napping!" Garrus shouted across the battlefield and Annie forced herself up. A shot of dark matter skipped just over her shoulder, holding off an attack from a brute that had crept up on her. She glanced towards Liara, but again the asari forced herself to look elsewhere as Annie took the chance to go for the second hammer.

Just as the second one rang there was a deep growl, growing into an ear-piercing screech as Kalros exploded from the ground. The Reaper turned its attention towards it and Annie watched in disbelief as the massive alien slammed against the Reaper. It stumbled but held on as Kalros dove back into the ground. For a moment Annie thought that was it, but it seemed that was only round one. Kalros burst from the sand a second time, now wrapping itself tightly around the Reaper as it tried helplessly to free itself. Slowly it was dragged under the dirt, firing its massive laser in a last ditch effort before the sand closed over it.

Annie stood from her place, looking up as the sides of the Shroud began to explode. She turned towards he team, "Get back to the truck!" The Spectre ordered, not waiting for a reply as she charged towards the Shroud. Mordin needed to get out of there.

The place was in flames with Mordin typing away at a computer until it exploded and fizzled in his face. "Mordin, the cure ready?"

"Yes. Loaded for dispersal in two minutes. Procedure traumatic for Eve, but nonlethal. Maelon's research invaluable."

"She's okay?"

"Headed to safety now. Her survival fortunate. Will stabilize new government should Wrex get any ideas. Good match, promising future for krogan. Control room on top of Shroud tower. Must take elevator up."

"What? You're going up there?" Annie leaned away as one corner of the room exploded. Mordin didn't seem to notice.

"Yes. Manual access required. Have to counteract STG sabotage. Ensure cure dispersed properly." Annie grabbed Mordin's shoulders, something she realized she'd never done before.

"Mordin, this whole thing is coming apart. There's got to be another way!" Mordin shook his head, pushing away Annie's hands as he turned to look up at the Shroud.

"Remote bypass impossible. STG countermeasure in place. No time to adjust cure for temperature variance." He then paused, as if suddenly coming to terms with what this all meant. "No. No other option. Not coming back. Suggest you get clear. Explosions likely to be problematic." He started to walk towards the elevator as Annie shook her head.

"Mordin, no!" She wasn't going to lose him. She couldn't. And yet he continued into the elevator, turning to face her.

"Shepard, please. Need to do this. My project. My work. My cure. My responsibility." Suddenly he smiled, a weird talent he seemed to have in situations like this. "Would have liked to see how it ends. Sure you'll do fine without me."

"I'm sorry…" Annie breathed, staring at the man that was preparing to walk into the lion's den. She was sorry she couldn't save him, sorry that he had to make this sacrifice.

"I'm not," he assured her, "had to be me." The doors then closed as he gave a final nod of his head. "Someone else might've gotten it wrong." The elevator then surged up the tower, Annie watching it till another explosion reminded her she needed to get out. She ran back outside, watching the Shroud with some prayer that she would see the elevator come back down in a few moments. But as the explosions continued, as the air was filled with a gold mist…it didn't.

She held out her hand, catching several flakes in her palm till several tear drops joined them. He'd made so many mistakes…but made up for all of them. Annie made her way back to the truck, her team, Wrex, and Eve waiting for her as Liara wrapped her arms tightly around the commander. There was silence, both to mourn for the loss of a friend…of a hero, and for the awe of the raining cure.

"He wouldn't have wanted it any other way," Annie whispered to Liara, her grip tightening. "And where ever he is…I'm sure he's putting in a good word for us." The embrace was stiff, not completely right, but Annie chose to take it. It was better than nothing at this point in time. She just needed to know someone she cared about was still there. She needed to know she hadn't killed off all of those hshe saw as family.


	68. Someone Else Would've Gotten it Wrong

Annie then left Tuchanka, which would probably be the last time for a long while, waving off Wrex and Eve – who had finally introduced herself as Urdnot Bakara. It was bitter sweet as she stared at the progress of the Crucible in the war room. Victus had promised the turians support now that the krogans were on Palaven. Garrus and Annie had been going over the organization of their newly acquired turian forces. Admittedly the commander wasn't fully paying attention as Garrus stopped, looking over at her. "You must be exhausted. Mordin dying…it can't be easy," Annie turned her face away from him at the remark.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead," she said flatly, pushing off the console as Garrus rested his hand gently on her shoulder.

"We both know you need a clear head to win a war. There's no room for mistakes here. You should catch some shut-eye. I'll make sure Joker doesn't launch any suicide missions." Annie smirked and nodded; admittedly she was lying to him. She had no intension of going to bed. It just wasn't in the cards. But work wasn't really on her mind either as she entered Liara's office. She just felt so drained, emotionally.

Annie sat on Liara's bed, just talking to her as the asari continued to work, giving her input every so often. She could tell the asari wasn't really there. It was in the sharpness of the one-word answers, the hesitations for when Annie asked for a little more. There was something going on in her head. Annie couldn't bring herself to say anything about what had happened in the shuttle bay. She wanted to ignore it, pretend it didn't happen. But even with the freezing shoulder from Liara, Annie just liked having someone to listen, to hear her ramblings in the middle of all of this. And eventually, she found herself laying back, eyes sliding closed as she drifted off.

Immediately she awoke to the same dark forest, the same spine tingling whispers. But there was something different as the boy in the white hood went running past her. A small girl followed as well as another boy, younger than the other two. They were giggling and for a moment Annie thought that something in the dream had changed as she followed them. But then she stepped around a tree and her heart fell.

Before her stretched every friend she'd ever lost. There was her team on Akuze, Kaiden, Jenkins, even Morinth. Mordin stood there smiling as always with Mira smirking in the background. But what startled Annie even more was watching the group of children run up to the parents in the center. It was her father and mother, standing there and smiling like someone was about to take a picture. Peter appeared to one side with then Jean on the other and she stood in the middle of them as a child. Her younger self grinned only for the group to gasp as a Reaper sounded in the background and they were set aflame.

Annie fell to her knees, watching them once again die before her very eyes. She couldn't find a way to wake up, it was like she was no longer just dreaming but living it. Only then a comforting voice rested next to her ear, whispering Annie's name as she turned her head.

Suddenly she was awake, pulling in a sharp breath to see Liara's concerned face. "Another nightmare?" Annie nodded slowly, reaching up to her cheeks, thankful that they were dry as she slowly sat from her place.

"Ya…I don't think I'll be able to get away from it for a while," she muttered, stretching her back as Liara gave a sad sigh and a nod. She could feel it from the asari, she was worried about Annie, almost worried enough to find help. Then again Annie could tell Liara almost didn't want to make it worse by doing so.

"Anything in particular?" Annie looked down before shaking her head.

"Just people that aren't here anymore…thanks to this war."

"That's thanks to the Reapers, not you," Liara breathed, stepping in front of her and turning Annie's head up. "You've done more than anyone could have expected. Everyone in the galaxy believes that, believes in you. Me especially." Annie smiled, letting her body lean in only for Liara to pull away and mutter something about work. The commander gave a firm nod, worry swirling in her stomach. She didn't want anything to be bad between them, she wanted everything to be perfect so she had something to be happy about during this war.

"Did I miss anything while I was out?" She was quick to change the subject, turning to the only thing that could occupy her thoughts.

"Garrus came by. Extremely upset that you'd avoided his strict orders for some shut eye." Annie smirked and nodded, knowing very well how the conversation ended once he walked in the room. Either way she was up now and it was time to get back to work.

To say the salarian councilor was displeased with Annie decision was an understatement. Annie had been given the "privilege" of chatting with the alien. Though in truth it was a bit more of a lecture. Apparently she was too sympathetic to alien species, as if the councilor wanted to call her weak but couldn't find the words. Annie admittedly found it amusing. The humans were known for being somewhat hateful towards alien species but it was times like this were Annie knew it wasn't just humanity. Sure, the salarians were friendly with asari and turians, but like all species they were spiciest towards one of the alien groups. But Annie chose to keep that opinion to herself as the counsilor moved on to the real reason she'd called.

Apparently she had some delicate information on Councilor Udina. Annie wouldn't say she _hated_ the councilor…simply disapproved of his decisions. Certainly when given the choice for who to elect as the first human councilor Annie had lingered on the idea of Anderson. He was strong, confident, and cared about the good of humanity. But then Annie realized that wouldn't be fair. He was a soldier, like her, and sending him into the Council might as well be the same as throwing him into the pits of hell.

So she picked Udina, off of the main idea that he had more political experience. Now a days, though, with the war, Annie wished she had put the soldier on the Council, especially now that she was hearing poor things about Udina.

COMMENTS: Sorry for the delay. Classes are in full swing now and I haven't had as much time to really sit, play, and write. The weekend is just around the corner, though, so plan on more content. Also, I had an idea to change around the situation between Annie and Liara at the end of chapter 65, so I would recommend looking back at that. Enjoy!


	69. It Was Supposed to be Safe

But with each passing moment, each friend lost, each update on the death count in earth Annie felt the genuine happiness in her smiles fading. She was worn thin and now even the one thing…the one person that kept her two feet firmly on the ground was drifting away from her. She was so tired. Annie felt like she was being pulled from all directions, Liara's averted gazes and distance feeling like she was being punched in the stomach as well.

It had all started to remind her of being a child, a slave. She'd found a way to become numb to it all, to just go through the motions so that she could live. But she wasn't really living; she was just a sack of underfed and over-punished meat. Annie never wanted to feel that way again. Though, sometimes she was wondering if it would make all of this a little easier. Sometimes she wished she didn't care, she wished she was ruthless and hateful towards her crew. She wished she led them by fear rather than respect because then she never had to feel for them. If that were the case she would never have to feel her heartbreak with each name drilled into the memorial on the wall of the Normandy.

But since she wasn't like that Annie found herself tense. She was jumpy and unnecessarily harsh with people…especially Liara. Annie was sarcastic and constantly degrading, poking fun at the asari that felt more comfortable alone than with family. It wasn't fair…she knew that, but how could she admit to her crew how terrified she was? They depended on her strength and resolve. She was _the_ Commander Shepard, the only being willing to dive head first into the burning house. She was expected to stay level headed. But the energy to hold up that mask was becoming exhausting.

Either way, it was time to return to the Citadel. She had to figure out what was going on with Udina. The last thing they needed was their own human ambassador throwing them under the bus. They were having enough trouble dealing with Cerberus and they were supposed to be fighting for the same result. Of course, Annie knew better than that now. Cerberus was no longer a group for the betterment of humanity. It was a terrorist organization that fought for the domination, not equality, of humanity over the rest of the alien species. And from the sounds of it they were even trying to do that with the Reapers. They were fighting with fire that Annie didn't want to be a part of.

They arrived at the Citadel…but something wasn't quite right. As Joker tried to contact the tower, asking for permission to dock, they found no answer. Even if someone was away from their desk there would be an automated system in place. But there was nothing as Annie stepped up to the cockpit. Suddenly EDI alerted them to an emergency message from Thane. _Shepard, the Citadel is under attack. Cerberus troops are everywhere, and they're in control of the docks._

"Are you safe?"

_No. I had to evade their commandos at the hospital. I'm in a Presidium storefront._ If Thane wasn't able to find a safe place to hide then the rest of the residents were in extreme trouble.

"Did Ashley make it out?"

_We got separated. She said she had to protect the Council. I'm heading to C-Sec headquarters. It's been compromised, and C-Sec's response depends on it. As long as Cerberus is holding the headquarters, they have the station._

"All right, Joker," Annie stated, ending the call as she looked out through the windshield of the ship. "Get us away form the docks and close to C-Sec HQ. We'll deploy in the shuttle."

Annie headed down to the shuttle bay, her team quickly following as she began readying herself. "What's going on, Lola?" James asked as Annie adjusted some of her pads.

"The Citadel is being attacked by Cerberus. We need to get in there and take back control of C-Sec before ensuring the Council's safety."

"But what about the people?" Liara asked as Annie checked on her ammo supply.

"If Cerberus has control of both C-Sec and the Council…we might as well stop fighting this war."

Their drop off at the C-Sec shuttle bay was a quick one. Annie and her team moved in in force, the commander's final reminder seeming to way heavily on all of them. They had to save the Citadel; it was their only real leverage for peace at this point in the war. Giving it up to Cerberus could mean a big fat game over.

Annie crept around the corner, the final Cerberus troop standing over a C-Sec officer with a gun in his hands. He hesitated, maybe believing he had the upper hand. Either way it gave Annie the perfect amount of time to sneak up, grip his head and twist it sharply. The neck snapped and the troop collapsed dead as Annie looked down at Commander Bailey. He'd been shot and wasn't looking too good. "Commander Bailey, what are you doing here?"

He coughed; blood spurting between his lips as Annie quickly gave him some much-needed medi-gel. It wouldn't save him, but it would keep him alive long enough for them to hopefully take care of this Cerberus threat. Slowly he shifted, grunting from some lingering pain but seeming a little better as he looked towards Annie. "Getting my ass shot off trying to retake headquarters. Cerberus took it in the first push. We gotta kick them out of there. Everyone in C-Sec's flying blind without the network." Annie helped him up, following as they entered the headquarters and he settled himself at the secretary's desk.

Quickly he began to look into needed information and Annie and her team made sure they weren't going to get swarmed again. "Cerberus has control of the main channels, but I can set up a new one. Without it, our people have no plan and no chance." He then dug a little deeper, discovering that the salarian councilor's hunch about Udina might've been right. Apparently something big was about to happen in politics before Cerberus attacked. Annie was quick to assume Udina had done what he could to stop them, which was what resulted in Cerberus forces touching down on the Citadel.

So Annie chose to make her way to the councilor, needing to find out more as well as make sure the councilor was safe. She might not know where Ashley was…or the other councilors, but one was better than nothing at this point in time. So they dove into the Citadel, shooting down all that they could with Thane and Bailey giving them the every so often needed update. At one point Garrus started shouting out for his past C-Sec operatives. It was a startling reminder to Annie that he used to work here, that this used to be him. She hated to think if he was still here during this attack.

"Could you perhaps not alert everyone?" Liara hissed and Annie couldn't help the annoyance that rolled through her body and made her tighten her grip on her riffle.

"If gunfire didn't set them off…I sure won't," Garrus commented as Annie gave a loud laugh, ensuring it was obvious to the asari. It might've been foolish how the two were acting. No, it _was_ foolish how they were acting. But it seemed impossible for the pair to hold back their snide and passive comments towards each other. Like they were finally trying to get off their chest about what really bothered them about the other. When in truth there wasn't anything the other hated about their lover. Certainly there were aspects that were different but neither of them could say they hated anything about the other. Either way Annie had to keep focused as they arrived at the offices of the Embassy and made their way up to the councilor's office.


	70. Their First Encounter

It was quiet, uneasily so. Annie signaled Garrus to watch their six as Liara opened the door, stepping to the side so that Annie could lead. She stepped carefully into the room, moving around a pair of dead salarian bodyguards, "Councilor?" There was no answer as she approached the swiveled office chair. Carefully she pulled at the top, turning it around and jumping slightly at the dead eyes of the executor. He'd been shot through the head, executioner style. There was something not right about this. "It's not him," Annie announced to her team before turning away, towards the massive window that over looked the office. "Bailey, he's not here," she spoke into her communicator only to pause at the odd bit of movement.

She was well trained in the use of cloaks, in understanding how to move in them and extract the most out of them. With that she could also spot when someone was using one as a chair shifted in the office below and the space around it glittered. "Actually…I think I got him." Immediately the councilor appeared, believing he was safe. A mistake quickly made clear as a Cerberus troop appeared out of nowhere. "Shit," Annie shouted, pulling out her pistol and firing at the glass. It shattered, catching the Cerberus operative's attention as she threw herself through it, rolling as she hit the ground.

"Don't even think about it," Annie announced, standing as her team joined her, guns raised. The man held a blade to the councilor's throat. He was different from anything Annie had seen from Cerberus. If anything was obvious…it was clear he was constructed. Sure, there was some human in his Asian features and raven black hair, but his eyes were covered in what looked like permanent sunglasses. Everything except for his face looked robotic. It only made Annie wonder what she would have looked like if Cerberus had that freedom when reconstructing her own body.

"Shepard he's going to kill us all," the councilor remarked, hands raised in hopes it would stop the Cerberus assassin from killing him.

"That remains to be seen," Annie stated as the salarian shook his head.

"Not him, Udina. He's staging a coup. He's got the other councilors now – to hand over to Cerberus." Annie sneered at the thought, adjusting her grip on the gun.

"Three on one, pal. It's over."

"No," he smirked, showing unnaturally sharp canines, "now it's fun." Suddenly a pistol was aimed to his head and Annie couldn't help the relieved smirk to find Thane on the other end.

Immediately Thane and the assassin clashed, two skilled fighters going hand to hand might've been impressive in another setting. But what worried Annie overall was that the Cerberus assassin was at full strength, Thane was supposed to be dead months ago. Yet, the drell kept his own…till the worst happened.

Thane surged forward as did the assassin, the pair coming down with their final swings. The world seemed slow as the two stopped with their backs to each other. For the moment Annie hopped it was over, that the assassin was going to collapse. But instead Thane fell to his knees, sighing as he gripped his stomach. The assassin smirked and Annie's jaw fell. "Thane!" She fired her pistol and the assassin held up his hand, deflecting the bullets with a small biotic barrier before flipping away from them.

Annie chased the man, firing her weapon but he was slippery…too slippery. He hopped aboard a taxi some Cerberus phantoms had stolen. Annie still couldn't tell if those were actual women or just robots. Either way she gave a few pitiful shots at the ascending vehicle, a few more shots joining in from Thane. She turned towards him, running to his side to catch the man as he slid down the side of the open door. "Thane, you're hurt. We need to get you to the hospital," she pressed her hand to the wound, black blood seeping between her fingers. No…no she wouldn't let him go out like this. He couldn't, he just couldn't.

"Don't worry about me," he coughed, blood on his lips, "the Council…you have to save them." Annie looked over at Garrus, Liara, and the salarian councilor. She didn't want to leave Thane but he was right.

"Zut," she hissed, the French curse slipping through her lips as she pressed her free hand to her ear. "Bailey I need medical help here asap. The salarian councilor is safe but Thane's been shot. I'm heading off to find the rest of the councilors." Annie looked back at Thane as the man, rested his hand over the one she had pressed to his wound.

"Go, Shepard. Do not waste time on me," he smiled as Annie gave a firm nod, signaling to her team it was time to move as they proceeded out onto the balconies.

She didn't like this; she didn't like that assassin creep. There was something about him that didn't sit well with her. He knew what was going to happen, he knew she was going to be there and yet he didn't seem to care. She swore the next time she ran into him she'd show him a good place to stash his little sword.

They were able to pinpoint the councilor's location, at a shuttle platform on the Presidium. Annie hoped Ashley was with them…then again she sort of didn't. Ashley's stubbornness was going to make this difficult. The salarian councilor was sure Udina initiated this entire attack and unfortunately Annie couldn't think of any reason why the sick son of a bitch wouldn't do it.

Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a quick shuttle ride there turned sour as the assassin jumped on the top of the vehicle. He smirked and Annie drew her pistol, ignoring the need to drive as she fired at the windscreen. But again he deflected it with a biotic barrier before running up to the top of the car. Annie pulled away from the steering wheel, opening the door to the still moving shuttle as Liara threw herself over, catching the car from spinning out of control. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it…like I always do," she muttered but Annie ignored her as she curled around, shooting at him again but to no avail as he stabbed his fancy sword into the drive core of the shuttle. The assassin then threw himself off, landing perfectly into the passenger seat of his own shuttle and rocketing off as Annie tried to correct their failing transportation.

"Hold on," she told her team as she tried her best to aim the shuttle into an open area, the bottom skidding fast against the ground. As they surged towards a garden fixture instincts had Annie throwing her arm across Liara to protect her from the impact. The shuttle hit the three foot high wall, the force propelling it up and over onto the top and them back over before finally coming to a stop. There was a collective groan from the group but everyone still seemed fine as they were forced to make the last of the trip on foot.


	71. A Wolf Among Sheep

And of course that wasn't that easy either.

Annie hugged the wall, picking off Cerberus troops whenever she could. How were they able to just walked onto the Citadel? This place – especially after Sovereign – was intense about its security. Sure, Thane and Kasumi knew ways around it, but that was their job and they were one person. All they had to do was sneak aboard a cargo ship onto the docks, slide around security, and they would be in without a problem. But Cerberus had brought an army. How had they gotten past the docking restrictions? The C-Sec officers? Someone had set this up; they'd made preparations for this to work. Annie didn't think Udina had the balls for it…unfortunately he was also in the right position to.

Suddenly a phantom appeared next to her, kicking her riffle from her hands. Swiftly the woman sliced down with her blade as Annie held up her forearm to protect herself. It cut into the armor and made her shield flicker before returning as Annie kicked her foot forward, knocking the phantom back. The thing flipped backward, sliding back further as its feet hit the ground. Out of the corner of her eye Annie caught the glittering movement of another cloak, side stepping just in time to avoid another strike from a different phantom. If anything Cerberus hadn't skimped on their troops.

Annie had found during her experiences with Cerberus that ninety percent of the time Cerberus was just trying to slow their opposition down to create a weakness. It's why dealing them had always been so easy for Annie. But for times like this, for the other ten percent, that was when Cerberus showed where they really put their credits. These weren't human beings; they almost reminded Annie geth with how synthetic they were.

The first phantom charged forward, blade ready as Annie deflected the other phantom's strikes. Quickly Annie rolled away, the sword catching one of her shoulder pads as Annie swung her leg around, knocking down the second phantom. It tumbled to the ground, cloak going up immediately but it didn't help as Annie ripped out her pistol and fired two shots into its head. Immediately it fizzled back into view, another nearby gunshot making Annie jump.

She turned, looked at the first phantom that was an arms-length from her, sword at the ready. It crumpled to the ground, exposing Liara with her raised pistol smoking behind it. Annie shifted her view between the two feminine figures before holstering her gun and going to grab her riffle. "I had it under control," Annie muttered, hearing Liara's loud scoff.

"Right, my mistake. I'll just leave you be the next time," Liara sneered.

"Why do you always have to be so literal?" Annie hissed, stepping up to Liara as angry biotic smoke began flicking off of the asari's skin.

"I didn't know saving your ass was such a problem."

"So I'm a problem now?" Garrus suddenly stepped between them shoving them away as best he could.

"Hey, calm down you too. I don't know what the fuck is going on but dealing with it now is not the best time." The biotic aura around Liara started to fade as Annie shrugged Garrus off.

"Come on," Annie muttered, turning her back to them as they headed across the Presidium.

Even after all of that they still had to deal with the assassin beating them on the elevator. Annie could easily say she never particularly liked riding on the top of them. It was that weird anxiety that would settle into her gut, making her worry they'd be crushed by the roof. Either way Bailey tried his best to delay the assassin, by hacking into the elevator and forcing it to stop at every floor. Annie couldn't help the small laugh at the thought, imaging the hit man's annoyed eye roll every time they stopped. But then he jumped to another elevator and it was Annie's job to shoot down the magnets propelling it upwards. She doubted it would kill him. Enemies like that guy had a knack for not going down so easily.

But in the end they were then able to find the elevator holding the Council and were able to hop onto the top of it. The only unfortunate part being that the councilors didn't seem pleased to have the added passengers.

Annie leaned back as bullets rocketed through the ceiling and between her legs. "Jesus," she breathed as the elevator stopped on the desired floor, "it's almost like she wanted to hit me." Garrus chuckled but Liara just remained silent, an eye roll being her only response.

They dropped down into the elevator, heading out to the pad to find Ashley cursing at the burning shuttle that was supposedly waiting for them. Apparently Cerberus had broken it in passing. But when she told the Council to turn back they were met with Annie and her team, guns raised. "Annie?" The three had their guns aimed at Udina, the man already starting to sweat.

"Shepard's blocking our escape! She's with Cerberus!"

"Everybody, hang on!" Ashley ordered, stepping around to place herself between Annie and the Council, her pistol ready to fire if need be. "Annie, what's happening here?"

"You know me, Ash. You know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."

"I knew the old Annie – before Cerberus. Now…I don't know what I'm dealing with." Annie tried to keep her temper calm. How could the woman still be unsure about where her loyalty sat? Then again…maybe Annie wasn't being fair. It probably did look a lot like she had planned to corner the Council here. So on a leap of faith Annie gave a deep sigh and then lowered her pistol. Garrus and Liara looked at one another before hesitantly following.

"Look, we don't have time to negotiate. You've been fooled, all of you. Udina's behind this attack. The salarian councilor confirmed it."

"Please," Udina sneered, stepping up, "you have no proof. You never do." Annie gave a hard laugh.

"Must feel nice no longer having to hide behind all of your bullshit," she hissed as Udina crossed his arms over his chest. "There are Cerberus soldiers in the elevator shaft behind us. If you open that door, they'll kill you all," she added. The turian and asari councilor seemed unsure with what to do. Annie was hoping they could find some sort of loyalty towards the woman that had saved their lives all those years ago. They owed her a lot and so far had done little to make up for it.

"We've mistrusted Shepard before…and it did not help us," the asari councilor remarked as Annie gave a sigh of relief. Finally.

"We don't have time to debate this! We're dead if we stay out here. I'm overriding the lock." Udina turned away from the group, stepping up to the console. Annie moved forward as Ashley stepped back, keeping her body in the way of Udina. The two women stared at one another and Annie could see the dilemma battling in her mind.

"Ash," she said softly, "you have to trust me." Ashley hesitated before turning around, gun now aimed at the human councilor.

"Udina, step back from the console." But the man ignored her as the asari councilor stepped up, for some reason believing she could do more to help. All it got her was in trouble as Udina shoved her to the ground and pulled out a pistol. Quickly Annie drew hers again but hesitated, watching Ash. She could kill the man, it wouldn't be difficult…but in a messed up way this was Ash's responsibility. Her first true Spectre-related mission. Annie could only hope she would make the right choice.

Not a second passed before a bullet was fired from Ashley's gun and it flew through the center of Udina's chest. The man collapsed on the floor, dead. But they weren't finished as everyone swiveled to the door opening behind them. Annie was ready to see the assassin and his phantoms, but instead out walked Bailey and a few more C-Sec officers. "Bailey? Where's the assassin?"

"They were here but escaped into the keeper tunnels when they heard us coming." Annie cursed under her breath. That hit man was going to come back and bite her in the ass…it was only a matter of time.


	72. Saying Goodbye

But her first stop was to the hospital, she had to make sure Thane was going to be all right. Bailey had told her that he was out of surgery but there had been…complications. Annie hated not being surprised by that news. For a man in his condition it was a miracle he had even lived for this long. But she still needed to see him, he was a hero, and hoped he would see himself as such.

She hesitated for a moment at the door, hating having to be in this position again. The last time, Ashley was on the other side in pretty poor condition. Only she was healthy now. Annie had a sick feeling it would end the same with Thane.

His son, Kolyat, was standing beside the bed, looking back at Annie and giving a respectful nod. Thane was lying in bed and Annie couldn't help the slight quiver in her bottom lip. She had never seen him look so…weak. Even during the later stages of his disease he still did a good job staying active. But this was the first time Annie looked at him and could see he was a dying man. "He asked me to take off his oxygen mask so he could be comfortable. I don't think it will be very long." Annie nodded, swallowing the hard knot suddenly in her throat.

"Your father helped me save a lot of lives. I'd like to be here," she breathed, stepping closer to the bedside. Thane turned his head slightly towards Annie, giving a weak smile as Annie reached for his hand. Gently she held it, the drell giving it a comforting squeeze but it was considerably weaker than she was used to.

"Shepard, I'm afraid I won't be joining you again."

"You've done more than enough, Thane," she smiled, reaching her other hand over to rest on the top of his. She always expected a drell's hand to be slimy and cold. But Thane's was warm and comforting.

"That assassin should be embarrassed. A terminally ill drell managed to stop him from reaching his target." Annie chuckled, nodding her head.

"I'll pass the word along." Thane then began a prayer as Annie bowed her head in respect, Kolyat taking over when Thane broke into a coughing fit. It was hard to hear, not only because of the struggle Thane was obviously having, but also because it reminded Annie of what had happened to her three years ago. She didn't want to see it…but knew she had to be here.

"I brought a prayer book," Kolyat started, stepping next to Annie as he offered it to her. "Commander, would you care to join me?" Annie pulled away one of her hands to grip one side of the book with a smile and a nod. "Kalahira, this one's heart is pure, but beset by wickedness and contention."

"Guide this one to where the traveler never tires, the lover never leaves, the hungry never starve. Guide this one, Kalahira, and she will be a companion to you as she was to me." Thane turned his head away to face the big window. Annie felt the warmth in his hand fade, the strength in his grip lessen, and then her chest tightened as the life drifted away from her friend. Respectfully she bowed her head, waiting a moment before pulling her hand back as she glanced at Kolyat. "Kolyat? Why did the last verse say 'she?'"

"The prayer was not for him, Commander. He has already asked forgiveness for the lives he has taken. His wish was for you."

Annie was shaken as she walked back to the docking bay, boarding the ship after happily welcoming Ashley back to the Normandy. She belonged here, that was for certain. But as Annie stepped out of the elevator, staring at the door to her quarters she felt a rush of emotions smack her across the face. She'd felt her friend die today and sent another one off to die not too long ago. Annie leaned her back against the far wall, sliding down as her body trembled in sobs. It had been so long since she'd felt so alone. She couldn't even bring herself to confide in Liara anymore.

Suddenly the elevator opened to Specialist Traynor and Annie tried to cover up the mess. She pulled in a sharp breath, smearing the tears from her face as Traynor gave her a startled look. "C-Commander are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she lied, clearing her throat in an attempt to clear away everything she'd just felt.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Traynor hesitated, debating on pushing the subject but Annie was quick to ask why she was here. It was easier to focus on work, easier to focus on the mind-numbing job that came from playing diplomat. At least that's what she liked to think.

But it was clear Traynor never forgot about that, never chose to ignore it. Annie could see it whenever she told her about another Cerberus base or when Hackett wanted to talk to her. The commander could see the worry the Specialist had towards Annie, looking to see if the woman would react. But Annie always held up her head and tried to ignore it. Traynor didn't need to know, no one did. They all just wanted her to fight for them and they could care less about her feelings towards it as long as she got results.

That's what this whole war was about, getting results. Certainly it was the preparation, but individual people wanted to see something. They wanted to see that Annie was doing something other than talking. And Annie agreed with them, but she knew that the war couldn't be won without it. She just hated the feeling like nothing was happening, like nothing was getting better.

Annie stepped from the comm-room after finishing up a discussion with Anderson and Hackett. It wasn't a good one…but it wasn't bad either. Anderson seemed able to focus on the attack on the Citadel and seemed a little more relaxed. Annie hoped that was because he was somewhere safe – in a manner of speaking. But as she stepped out Liara started making her way towards her, a nervous swirl immediately beginning in her stomach. "Annie? Do you have a moment?" Annie wanted to say no, to ignore the heart-to-heart conversation she knew Liara wanted to have. She could feel it in her bones. But there were people here; people that were trying to hide how they were looking over their shoulders at the two, observing them.

A small nod allowed Liara to continue and Annie was relieved to hear it didn't involve their relationship. "A contact within Asari High Command was insistent I pass on a distress signal to you."

"Something they can't handle?" The remark wasn't meant as any sort of blow to the ego but Annie could see it bothered Liara by the way she rolled her shoulders; an attempt to roll off her annoyance.

"From what I can tell, they sent several commando squads to investigate. None of them returned. They didn't ask me directly, but I think High Command is hoping you might help." Annie smirked, turning away from Liara to look at the war console in the center of the room. The information must've been passed to her as the Shadow Broker. Must be difficult keeping an eye on what part Liara was supposed to play with certain people. She was doing a fine job a being her oblivious pureblood self.

No…that wasn't fair.

"What's your take on this?" Annie found herself asking. It was like she couldn't ignore the natural routine they held together. She couldn't stop herself from asking for Liara's opinion because normally they were always good and always appreciated. Even if Annie didn't react that way.

Liara crossed her arms over her chest, raising a brow that made it clear she didn't think Annie was serious about her question. "That they wouldn't ask for your help if it wasn't important. I've given Traynor the coordinates. I'll try to figure out what's going on." Liara stepped by Annie, their hands conveniently brushing against each other's. They paused, drawing in simultaneous breaths before a beep on the war console broke their silence. Liara cleared her throat, ignoring the moment as they returned to their separate work.


	73. A Misunderstanding

There was time before they would arrive at the monastery, enough time apparently for a match or two with Traynor. Annie had talked some with Traynor about chess, but not a lot. It was never much of a game Annie saw point in playing, probably because she experienced it first hand every day. But…after everything that was going on, Annie needed someone to talk to and Traynor was distant enough from her past for Annie for feel comfortable.

"I'm still jealous that you get your own bathroom. Speaking of which, the women's showers need to be fixed, the water pressure is terrible." Annie chuckled at Traynor's comment, stepping away from her desk with a nod.

"I'll let EDI know when I have a chance. Why don't we get started on the match you were confident in winning," Annie offered as Traynor nodded, making her way over to the small sitting room in Annie's quarters.

"Sadly I wasn't able to get my hands on a real chess set, there's something so much more satisfying with physically touching the pieces. But no matter, we can still play with these," she smiled as Annie nodded, sitting down as the game got underway.

A half hour later and Annie was leaning back, a huff of defeat flying between her lips. "That should've worked. The pawns are like the krogan, they should have been able to take an attack like that while my rooks came around…"

"Commander," Traynor chuckled, "there is a reason you are the one out on the field and not me. This is just a game, certainly it's strategy based but it's nothing like the real thing." Annie smirked, giving a small nod of her head as the holographic game reset itself. Traynor's smile then faded, leaning forward to turn off the contraption. "Commander…I don't mean to sound pushy…or to go into you private life…" she trailed off, giving herself a reassuring deep breath. "This war is putting more of a strain on you than anyone is willing to admit. Isn't it?" Annie looked down at her knees, giving a small sigh before standing to her feet.

"It's…it's not that. I just feel like sometimes we're not really doing anything to help," she admitted as Traynor tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Not doing anything? Commander do you realize how many messages I have to sort through day to day, simply thanking you for everything you've done? There's thousands of them from all types of people." Traynor stood from her place, moving towards Annie and resting a comforting hand on her shoulder, stepping close. "Everyone can see the help that you're providing for the galaxy." Annie turned her head up, smiling at the Specialist.

"Thanks," she breathed, the pair hesitating in the empty room. Suddenly the silence broke from the sound of the door opening, a policy Annie forgot she only allowed for one woman.

Liara stepped into the room, stopping only a foot or two from the doorway as Traynor and Annie looked up at her. Traynor was quick to back step, clearing her throat as if they'd been caught with their trousers down. "Um…Joker wanted me to tell you we're only a few minutes from the monistary," Liara remarked quietly, raising her chin as Traynor snuck by the asari. Annie simply stood there, staring at the empty space that the Specialist had just been standing.

"I'll be right down," she muttered, shifting her gaze away as Liara nodded slowly. She gripped a datapad tight to her chest, unable to move before pulling in a shaky breath.

"You're better than this," she whispered before leaving without a second thought.

Annie had to admit the remark angered her. How could Liara say something like that? She _was_ better than that, and the asari should know it, should know she would actually pull anything…maybe. Either way Annie didn't want to linger on it, they had to get into that monastery and now that Ash was back she could take her along rather than Liara. Though the asari seemed to think otherwise.

Liara stepped up to the shuttle, causing an uncomfortable glance between Ash and Garrus as Annie finished prepping Cortez. "What?" Annie asked sharply as Liara crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm coming along." Annie gave a hard laugh, shaking her head as she stepped into the shuttle.

"I'm sorry but that's just not happening."

"Annie, these are my people. I have to help them," she stated as Ashley stepped off the shuttle and Annie winced. She hated that the rest of her team had to be involved in their own debacles, and she hated that it felt like they were taking Liara's side in it all.

"She can go instead of me, Shep. Don't worry about it. I still need to finish moving in. She's right. She should go." Annie pursed her lips, looking down at Liara and then at Ashley before giving a hard huff.

"Whatever, do what you will," she was tired of it and just wanted to get this mission done with as Liara climbed aboard and they drifted over to the very quiet monastery.

"Dig up any information on the monastery?" Garrus asked Liara as Annie continued to skulk by the viewing screen.

"I did, and I now understand why High Command wanted to hide it. We're headed to an Ardat-Yakshi monastery."

"Like Morinth?" Annie turned at the pair's conversation, the topic being too interesting and important to ignore.

"Morinth chose to be a killer. These Ardat-Yakshi isolated themselves to avoid that. But it doesn't mean they're harmless. Their urge to feed can be powerful. That's why High Command sent in commandos to investigate the monastery's distress signal."

"So what does Asari High Command want us to do?" Annie asked, a hint of a condescending tone in her voice.

"If there was a chance that Ardat-Yakshi could break loose, the commandos were to purge the monastery." There was an unsettling silence in the shuttle at the comment as its meaning soaked into the group. Purging the monastery. Annie could see the danger of the Ardat-Yakshi but always hated how the asari chose to deal with them. They were the fly in the asari gene pool, the only thing that made them imperfect. Annie hated it, but knew the risks of them just as much.

"Let's not assume anything," Annie noted, "there's a possibility the Ardat-Yakshi sent out the distress call." Garrus and Liara nodded and for a moment Annie swore she caught a small appreciative glance from Liara. But by the time Annie noticed it…it was gone.

They landed on the shuttle pad and it was easy to see this was an asari-based colony denoted simply by the architecture of the building. But what unsettled Annie was the second shuttle sitting on the pad; it was empty but still radiating warmth as if it hadn't been there long. Someone else was checking in on the Ardat-Yakshi as well. "Keep your guard up," Annie warned her team as they headed into the monastery.

If anything it reminded Annie a lot of the facility she had spent the majority of her teen years in. There were large community rooms, kitchens, dinning areas, libraries, everything that a normal human being might need to live in solitude. They even found a handful of recordings between inhabitants about sneaking off to the library at night to watch inappropriate movies. It made Annie smirk, as well as remind her that these were just normal girls with a very unfortunate default.

Every so often they would hear a muffled screech, it was ear shattering and sent a continuous wave of nervous shivers down Annie's spine. She could feel it from Liara too, it wasn't anything asari or human.

They then came upon something Annie wasn't hoping to find, a dead asari commando in the middle of a group of dead Reapers. "Well now we know why the commandos went silent," Garrus commented as Liara picked up a discarded datapad. Annie didn't like the idea of Reapers being here. Whatever they wanted with the Ardat-Yakshi couldn't be good.

"The bomb's in the Great Hall," Liara commented, showing them the datapad that held a map and a nav-point for the bomb.

"The commandos want this place gone pretty badly," Garrus noted.

"Ardat-Yakshi or not, evacuating this place would have saved a lot of lives," Annie looked at Liara with her comment. The asari bowed her head and Annie hesitated as she felt shame radiate from the woman. It wasn't fair to blame her, but it was too late to take it back now. "If there's no survivors then let's just get to the Great Hall and set off that bomb."


	74. A Sacrifice for Her Children

They continued on, stopping at the edge of a balcony as they watched a Reaper get shot down. Annie started to smile as the shooter came into view. "I almost didn't hear you," Samara commented as Annie lifted her riffle to lean over the edge of the balcony. "You are a most welcome sight. The corruption here runs deep."

"What brings a justicar out here?" Liara asked, practically taking the words from Annie's lips.

"My daughters have lived here for centuries. I have come for them." But then Samara's confident up-turned chin lowered, sadness seeming to radiate from her. "Unfortunately, the Reapers had already infested this place by the time I arrived. Falere and Rila have followed the monastery's rules ever since they arrived. They've shown no inclination toward violence," Samara continued to explain as Annie nodded. That was good, the last thing they needed was another Morinth loose in the galaxy.

"And you're here to save them…" Annie added, hoping that was the case. She didn't like that Samara was obliged to kill her daughters. Annie could only hope that the reason Falere and Rila weren't dead was because they were somewhere where killing them wasn't necessary. And yet as Samara looked down at her hands Annie found herself getting nervous.

"They are my responsibility, and it's one that cannot be abandoned even as our galaxy crumbles." Annie didn't like the sound of that, it sounded like an excuse. Suddenly another screech echoed, making the group tense, as Samara looked towards where it had originated. "We'll meet again. Go, I'll hold them off," she instructed Annie as the commander nodded, readying her riffle again before directing her team towards another door.

They exited into an outdoor courtyard, coming down the stairs as the ear-shattering screech echoed around them. It was no longer muffled by thick walls and locked doors, the creature exposing itself from the top of a nearby balcony. "What the hell is that?" Garrus questioned as it started to vibrate in biotic energy and the teleport several meters forward in their direction.

"I don't know, but I suggest we take it out and then find out!" Annie shouted back, firing into the monster as it approached on them. This creature seemed to drip in biotic energy, tossing handfuls of it at Annie and her team without a problem. But it also seemed weakened by it as Liara surged her own abilities on the creature, halting it in its tracks as Annie aimed at it's head. Two shots and it crumbled to the ground dead, the two women giving each other a small glance. Annie wanted to smile, but instead just nodded her head and moved on to inspect what they'd come upon.

"By the Goddess," Liara breathed, expressing what everyone was thinking. It had been an asari. It's eyes were completely black, skin now a sickly grey rather than blue and it had stretched up by several feet. Long arms matched the long and thin fingers with deadly claws, it's stomach was round, almost as if it was pregnant. Annie glanced up at Liara but the asari had turned her gaze away, seemingly too horrified to linger on the image. She wanted to comfort her, but another muffled screech stopped the commander.

"They're turning them into Reapers," Annie breathed, rubbing the back of her neck. It was disgusting. She could only wonder how many of them were hiding back inside the monastery. "Come on, we have to go set off that bomb."

They charged into the room, watching as Samara protected another asari from a Reaper. "Shepard," she started, "this is Falere, my youngest. She and her sister Rila are Ardat-Yakshi. They-"

"Mother! They have Rila!" Falere interrupted as Annie turned towards her and then back to her mother.

"What?" Samara's professional appearance immediately disappeared as she turned towards her daughter.

"I saw some of those creatures take her into the Great Hall. I've been trying to get there." Falere stepped away, leading Annie and Samara to another one of the monsters now dead on the ground. "They're harvesting us. Turing us into…into those. Monsters." Annie bowed her head, thinking back to the words of Leviathan. All that mattered was the harvest. Ardat-Yakshi Reapers…that was the last thing this war needed.

"We need to find Rila fast. The bomb we're looking for is in the Great Hall."

"B-bomb? You mean you're not here to save people?" Falere remarked, startled as Annie gave an impatient sigh.

"We'll do what we can but we can't leave this place standing." Falere frowned, poking at Annie's chest plate.

"You sound just like the commandos, and they didn't stop to help anyone." Annie hated to be thought of as that but seeing what the Reapers were doing here made it very clear what had to happen. She wasn't doing it for the safety of the asari reputation; she was doing it because she couldn't let these monstrosities join the war.

Falere and Samara went running off to try and get to Rila as Annie and her team went a different route. They would have to be quick about this. Annie just feared that the Rila Falere and Samara spoke of wouldn't be the same Rila waiting for them in the Great Hall.

They came running in, finding Falere and Samara already leaning over the unconscious middle child. She was resting against the bomb. Suddenly the sister woke but her eyes were black as she attacked Falere, Samara knocking the child back. They had already begun to change her. Annie forced herself to ignore it; to ignore the painful memories of her brother's being dragged away. There was a detonator to the bomb and they had to find it.

Suddenly the asari Reapers started to approach them, forcing Annie and her team to put the search on hold as they protected Samara and her children. None of this was going how she would have liked.

Once dealt with Rila woke again, but this time she seemed able to control her own mind. "Falere go! Take the elevator. It's too late for me. There are hundreds coming. Just go!" Rila then pulled out the detonator and Annie felt a sad weight hang on her shoulders. Samara stepped up to Falere, pulling at her youngest but the asari wouldn't have it.

"No! Rila!" She shouted, forcing Annie to catch the girl and drag her back. She couldn't ignore the pain in her heart, hearing the sister shout for Rila, begging Annie to let her go. Annie's subconscious kept switching between the monastery and Mindoir, between Rila and Peter as slavers dragged her away from her brothers. "Let me go!" Falere shouted as Annie finally got her into the elevator and the doors closed. There was a sharp boom behind the doors as Falere gave a final plea before Samara pulled her from the closed doors, holding her weeping child. Annie looked at the floor, blinking at the dampness in her eyes. She hated having to drag Falere away, but it had to be done.

They exited the elevator, both Samara and Falere in a very somber state. "Rila…there wasn't even time to say goodbye!"

"Few can break the Reapers' hold. Rila's will was extraordinary, as was her love for you."

"We left her to die!" Annie turned her face away, catching a look from Liara before they both averted their gaze.

"Rila made her choice, and it has reminded me of what is truly important, why I swore I'd lay down by life." Annie looked up at Samara's words, not liking where she was going with this. "Falere…the Code demands an Ardat-Yakshi cannot live outside a monastery that no longer exists." She pulled a pistol from her hip and Annie tensed, jaw dropping.

"What are you doing?" Annie hissed, taking a few steps forward.

"I'm sorry, Shepard. By the justicar's code…there is only one way to save Falere." Samara raised the pistol to her own temple as Falere begged her not to. But the woman simply smiled, "My daughters. You were all so much stronger than I believed." Annie frowned, shaking her head, she wouldn't watch this, by the Code or not.

"No!" Annie shouted, grabbing Samara's wrist and twisting it behind her back.

"Shepard, let…go!"

"What are you doing?"

"Fullfilling the Code!"

"By throwing your life away?" Annie yanked the pistol out of Samara's restrained hand.

"I won't kill my last daughter!"

"You wont have to!" Falere interrupted as Annie started to loosen up on her grip on the justicar. "I'll say here – home – no matter what's become of it. I could have left here at any time. I don't need a building to honor my own code. And if the Reapers return, they won't take me alive. I promise." Annie stepped away as Samara took a moment to process.

"Then…the Code permits you to stay, as you are."

COMMENTS: Have no fear, Annie and Liara have their little hashing out issues moment next. Enjoy!


	75. Admitting Being Vulnerable

They left the monastery, Samara remaining with Falere to discuss several important facts before she agreed to join the fight against the Reapers. It was one person, but it was one person that Annie would trust her life with.

Unfortunately for Annie, the mission seemed to bring something up in Liara. The woman had requested she meet Annie in her quarters to discuss something. Annie couldn't say she was looking forward to it…but they were both adults and their foolish game couldn't go on forever. Especially with how this war was going.

Annie found herself feeling a little nervous as she sat in her cabin. She'd spent so many days trying to avoid any sort of private time with Liara. It was stupid…she knew that, but those times reminded Annie that things between them weren't as perfect and blissful as they had been. She didn't like it. And after the woman had interrupted her and Traynor's conversation earlier that day…it made her even more nervous. Sure, she didn't have anything to worry about, nothing had happened but Annie still wondered if that was only because she'd been interrupted.

She had been feeling alone, lost and admittedly Traynor was right there, the woman below her that seemed comfortable enough to speak freely but was also couldn't deny her orders. No…that was a horrible way to think of it. It made Annie feel like Mira, like she had Traynor under her thumb. And yet Annie found herself finally opening up to someone other than Liara. So maybe yes…part of her had hoped Liara hadn't interrupted them but that was only because she had been emotionally weak and vulnerable.

There was a soft knock on the door – probably to avoid another incident – the commander responding before it opened to the asari. She smiled, but it was forced, like they were strangers meeting for the first time. "You said you wanted to discuss something?" Annie stood from her couch as Liara nodded, glancing down and drawing attention to the box in her hands.

"Yes…" she stepped towards the couch, resting it on the coffee table as Annie took her seat again. The commander was tense and she could sense Liara was as well. It was like they couldn't find a way to be civil around each other anymore. After everything that had happened, after everything they'd been through together Annie felt like they were reaching their breaking point. "I've been thinking about the knowledge we gathered on the Reapers, and how easily it could be lost again." She began to type things into the side of the box. "So…I put a plan in motion to preserve things for the future."

Annie leaned forward as the box came to life, a gentle beam of light shooting from the center as pages of information started to swirl around it. "What is it?"

"A record of the galaxy; information on the Reapers, relays, different cultures…and blueprints of the Crucible. But…" she paused, standing and playing with her fingers like she always did when she was nervous. "I wanted your opinion on one."

"Which one?"

"Your own," immediately the beam of light fizzled into a hologram of Annie.

"Why?" Annie found it impossible to ignore the odd amount of anger and frustration towards this. She couldn't believe this was even existing.

"Because…because I think it's important others know in case…" she trailed off, looking away.

"In case we fail?" Annie snapped, standing as Liara turned back.

"I'm just trying to prepare for the future, Annie."

"Of course you are, that's all you do nowadays, isn't it? Prepare the galaxy for when I fail? You lock yourself away in your office and think of different ways to tell me this is impossible, that it can't be done, that it's hopeless. You don't think I know that?"

"What are you talking about, Annie!? I've been supporting you this entire time!"

"Hardly! All you've been doing is telling me I shouldn't be able to do this! I know it's impossible! I know that every day we spend up here more people die on earth. I know that every death is on me…that it's my fault. And all you do is dig the knife a little deeper!"

"Goddess I can't take this anymore, Annie!" Liara hissed, leaning forward as she poked at the commander's chest. "It's always about you! The rest of the crew don't see it, they think you're some humble hero that takes the fall, but I know that's not true. Since the beginning you've treated me as your punching bag! As the helpless damsel you saved all those years ago that's too insecure to say otherwise! I don't deserve this, Annie. I know this is hard for you; it's hard for all of us. And we're trying to understand the stress you're under but you're not helping any!"

Annie stood there, shock filling her features as angry tears rolled down Liara's face. The asari pulled in a shaky breath, wiping at her cheeks as she shook her head. "I haven't deserved the belittling and the name calling. I know we deal with things differently but you've never mentioned it as being a problem before. And…and then you and Traynor…" Liara trailed off and Annie couldn't help but bow her head. "I know nothing happened. And in some way I take responsibility for it, I've been just as distant."

Another shaky breath fell from Liara's lips, smoothing her hand over the top of her head to try and calm her nerves. "I know you're scared of what will happen to all of us if we keep following you. I can sense it. But while the rest of the galaxy is happy to let you save them…I'm not," she admitted. Her eyes closed, another handful of tears trickling their way down. "You're not a soldier to me, Annie. You're the woman I fell in love with," she opened her eyes to look up at Annie's saddened expression. "Everyday we kill people in hopes of bettering this galaxy, in saving it. Every time we walk by them I can't help but see your face in theirs." She took another deep breath as she shook her head. "I will always be here for you, Annie. But you have to understand that I don't support how you're going about this. I don't support how you put your life on the line constantly. Because while you don't want everyone else sacrificing their lives for you…I don't want you wasting yours either."

The commander's mouth opened but the words were unable to trickle their way out, letting Liara to continue. "I swore after you came back a year ago I would never let you sacrifice yourself for me again. But everyday I watch you do it with those around you." She stepped closer to Annie, holding her head in her hands as Annie tried to will the water behind her lids from falling. "Annie, I know you will succeed. I've never believed in anyone more. But I am terrified that in the process…you'll give up yourself and…and I can't let you do that."

Annie stared at the woman before feeling like all of earth had slammed into her stomach. A bottled up sob escaped her lips as she curled up against Liara. No words could be said; no manner of apologies could be recited to fix this. Because Liara was right. Annie lived her life as a soldier with the acknowledgement that her life wasn't as important as everyone else's. And yet she'd become blind to the fact that the rest of the world didn't agree. She was someone; she wasn't just a name or another soldier. Especially to Liara. She'd forgotten all about that during this war. And without meaning too Annie choked out some of the most terrifying words she'd ever expressed: "I don't want to die."

Maybe that was obvious, but she was a marine and a Spectre…her life was nothing compared to the billions she was in charge of protecting. But as an individual, as a young woman in the prime of her life she didn't want it to end. She wanted to get married, have a family, a home, a life. She wanted to grow old, live normally rather than under the constant hail of gunfire. Annie had lost so much time in her life; she'd spent so much of it not living. Now she wanted nothing more than to run away from it all.

Liara couldn't find a way to respond, so instead she nodded, clutching Annie closer, not willing to let her go. The Reapers were doing more than exterminating organics; they were destroying people's souls. Their reason for living. They were smashing up families without a second thought. No one, not even the great Commander Shepard was numb to that sort of pain. They had to be stopped.

"Input entry," Liara stated, the box glowing a little brighter as she lifted her mouth from Annie's shoulder so her voice was clearer. "Commander Annie Eleanor Shepard was born on the colony of Mindoir and fought for her life from slavers at a young age. When she was old enough she joined the Alliance and with her deadly tactical skills and expert strategies was able to rise quickly in the ranks. She was a soldier, a leader…and a lover – one who made peace where she could." There was another pause as Liara smiled, "And it was an honor to be a part of her life. To know the struggles she faced and the strength she held. A true hero." Liara then ended the entry, the light on the box fizzing and then shrinking back into the container.

Slowly Annie pulled away, her breathing still shaky and her eyes puffy as she looked down at the box. "You mean more to me than all the galaxies put together, Annie," Liara breathed, pulling her chin up with a smile. "I love you." Annie smiled and nodded.

"I love you too, Liara T'Soni."


	76. Seeing a Ghost

It was then Annie got a particularly interesting bit of information on Miranda. She'd been off the grid since the day they dropped her off on a small colony after defeating the Collectors. Annie could only imagine she was still running from Cerberus. In truth Annie missed the woman, even if she could be a little too anal retentive at times.

So it was off to the Citadel, specifically the Presidium where Annie was to head to an apartment to meet Miranda alone. She entered the room, Ms. Lawson staring out the window, glancing slightly over her shoulder as the door closed behind Annie. "Miranda," the commander smiled, genuinely pleased to see she was still all right. "Good to see you."

"You too, Shepard," she acknowledged, finally turning away from the window to give Annie a weak smile.

"How have you been?" Annie asked as Miranda nervously crossed her arms over her stomach with a small shrug.

"A fine as one can be in my situation."

"Is Cerberus still after you?" Miranda smirked and nodded.

"That's one way to put it. But with my intel I've been able to stay out of their immediate sights."

"Good," Annie smiled wider as an uneasy silence settled between them.

"Shepard…I need something from you."

"Anything," Miranda gave a small chuckle, running a surprisingly shaky hand through her hair.

"Be careful what you're saying," she huffed before swallowing heavily. "I need access to Alliance files…" she trailed off, seemingly waiting for Annie to flat out deny her. But in truth Annie couldn't bring herself to do it. For everything that Miranda had done, both with and without Annie…the woman had saved the commander's life. And because of that Annie didn't see any reason why she should deny her.

"Okay, anything specific?" Miranda blinked, seemingly surprised before clearing her throat moving on to the question.

"No…just get me in and I'll find what I need."

"You got it, Miranda." There was another pause and Annie could tell the woman wasn't finished with the conversation. "Is there something else?"

"Yes…" she looked up at Annie, "when I was…working on you, I requested that we put a chip into your brain. It would ensure that you didn't go rogue. But…the Illusive Man said no, he wanted to make sure you were really you." Annie found herself laughing.

"Never thought the Illusive Man would be the one to have my good health in his thoughts." But Miranda didn't smile at the comment; instead she bowed her head in either guilt or shame.

"I'm sorry for ever wanting to control you."

"Hey," Annie breathed, resting a gentle hand on Miranda's shoulder. "I have my life thanks to you." Miranda looked up and smiled, giving a firm nod. "I'll get those files to you when I get back on the Normandy."

"Thanks, Annie. I'll see you around."

"Be careful."

"You know I can't promise that. Could you?" A bleak feeling settled into Annie's gut as she shook her head. Miranda smirked, before pulling Annie into a hug that surprised the Commander.

"Oh, and Miranda," Annie started, the woman pulling away. "Watch out for an assassin named Kai Leng,"

"Kai Leng?" She seemed lost in thought, "Knew that slippery bastard was still alive," she muttered. "Thank you, Shepard." And then she was gone, disappearing into the crowds like she was so good at doing. Annie could only hope she was staying safe. Miranda was distracted, probably by thoughts about her father and sister; Annie hoped it wouldn't be her down fall.

The Citadel wasn't as much of a bright and shining place after the attack. At one end Annie was glad, Cerberus had finally brought the war to this bright and clean world. But she hated to see that so many people had to die for it to happen. If anything, though, she'd figured she would at least visit Liara. Especially considering their rocky few weeks. The asari found it somewhat humorous to be the great and mysterious Shadow Broker but to then be sitting right under so many of her informants' noses. If Annie knew any better she would say Liara was getting far more information just being with people than stuck in an office.

But as she approached the table Liara was waiting at she was surprised to find a young man sitting with her. Admittedly her first reaction was to snap at him and assume he was trying to comfort the beautiful asari that was sitting all by her lonesome before inviting her home. If that was the case, though, Liara would normally be quick to discard him or he would discover she was far more oblivious than he knew how to comprehend. But they seemed to be holding a relatively deep conversation that stopped as Annie arrived.

"Annie," she smiled, standing from her seat with the man. "I have a bit of a surprise for you," she gestured towards him as Annie raised a brow, looking back at Liara and then at the man.

"I…don't believe I ever remembered us having this discussion. At least not a discussion where a man was under consideration as the third," Liara stood there for a moment before pursing her lips in annoyance.

"That's not what I'm talking about, Annie. This is your brother, Peter." Annie blinked, staring back at the man. He was older than her by several years, dirty and rough around the edges, a defined scar going along his left jaw. His hair was a messy brown, speckled with blonde and shaved on the sides, the top remaining a short mess of feathers. He was stocky and clearly fit under the old civilian clothes but Annie refused to believe he was Peter.

"Right…well Peter is a bit of a common name," Annie muttered, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. She'd had people attempt to be her long lost parents, even a few lost siblings that hoped she had forgotten about them from such traumatic events – the irony being that she had hid her actually siblings existence from the reports. But all of them were easy to sniff out, hoping to just ride on her successes. They would address her as Annie or Shepard and immediately the woman would cast them out, refusing to believe anything else they tried. She wouldn't tolerate such liars. "I never had any siblings, though," she remarked, stepping to the side and gesturing back to the main part of the café. "So I would recommend you be on your way before you make any more of a fool out of yourself."

"Annie!" Liara hissed, giving Peter an apologetic smile before dragging the commander to the side. "He just wants to try and reconnect with you," she whispered as Annie rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure he does but it's simply not possible for him to be here. And if you're going to force this on me then I'm heading back to the Normandy," Annie snapped at the asari. How could Liara fall so easily to this man's tricks and deception? He simply couldn't be Peter.

"Eleanor," he finally remarked, stopping Annie in her retreat as he cleared his throat. "Elle l'éléphant," he continued his accent suddenly changed as Annie stomach turned, glancing over her shoulder at him. No one knew that nickname, not Mira, not Liara, no one. No one but her family called her that. "I do not expect you to believe it's me. I hardly believe I'm here myself. I just…I wanted to see you, to make sure you were okay." Annie looked at him, pulling in a startled breath as her father's features defined themselves on the man, his soft brown eyes pleading to her.


	77. He Would Never Understand

"P-Peter?" Annie whispered, hand reaching up to her mouth in disbelief as he smiled. She shook her head, "You shouldn't be alive…I watched them take you, I watched them take both of you." He stepped away from the table, moving towards her as she stepped back. She was staring at a ghost. He couldn't be real.

"The cargo ship I was on got attacked by another group of pirates. In all of the commotion I was able to board an escape pod and was saved by passing human merchants."

"And…and Jean?" She asked as Peter bowed his head.

"He was too far away for me to get to. But the moment I had a chance to go back to Mindoir I did. I searched for you but you had disappeared. I thought you had died." He sighed, looking up at her, "Please Annie, you have to believe me."

"I do…" she whispered, pulling a shaky breath, "but…I don't know if I want to." The café had started to take notice of their emotional conversation as Liara stepped next to Annie, gently touching her hand.

"Maybe we should take this somewhere more private?" The asari remarked but Annie didn't hear her.

"Elle," he breathed as Annie closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"It's Annie, now. It's been Annie for over ten years," she responded. Peter sighed, giving a slow nod before preparing one more attempt to convince the commander.

"Annie, do you remember what papa used to tell us?" Annie looked down at Liara's hand, sliding hers gently around it. She did, she remembered every morning before they left for school he would kiss each of them on the head and tell them. "Allez changer le monde, mais n'oubliez pas de tomber en amour." (_Go and change the world, but do not forget to fall in love_) Peter repeated as Annie gripped Liara's hand tightly. It was how papa had met their mother, how they had made their life together. He was a Frenchman with plans to become a pilot and travel all of space for his whole life with nothing more than the stars to keep him company. But then he met their mother, an American artist, passionate and beautiful. He told them that he no longer needed to see space because he had everything he could have ever wanted with their mother. It was a sweet story…but this was the first time she'd thought about those words in years.

Annie stepped away from her lover, embracing her older brother for the first time in years. He gripped her tightly, his big body surrounding her in comfort and warmth as she felt her shoulders begin to tremble. "I wanted to look for you," she whispered into his shoulder, "but I just could never bring myself to do it." Peter nodded against her head, glancing up to Liara disappearing with a smile and a nod of her head.

The commander pulled back after a few minutes, giving a small chuckle and wiping at her tears as they took a seat back at the table. "I suppose we ran off, Liara," she remarked, pushing her hair out of her face and trying to will her swollen red eyes away. Peter smiled, nodding as he reached over to rest his hand on hers. It was a rough workers hand, permanently caked in dirt except for a singular metal band on his ring finger. Annie turned her hand over, running her thumb over it as she looked up at Peter.

"Her name is Mika," he stated, answering the question Annie never had to ask. "After I was dropped off at the merchants' first port I spent a good part of my life homeless, every so often convincing a family to house me for an evening or two. It wasn't too spectacular but soon enough I was able to get work, moving cargo on the docks. Life was simple, lonely, but simple. I couldn't complain since I knew very well that my fate could be much worse. When I turned eighteen I joined a trader's crew as one of the cabin boys. It allowed me to get out of the place. But funny enough I was dragged back there shortly after. Before I had left I had met Mika one evening, just sitting and watching ships dock. I sat down next to her. We didn't say anything, just acknowledged that there was someone else there. It was a few days before we even introduced ourselves, and a few weeks till I asked her out. After that I found myself somewhat anchored to the place."

"So I stayed and a year after meeting her when I was twenty and she was eighteen I asked her to marry me. I knew we were young and crazy," he chuckled, "but I just couldn't deny how I felt for her, you know?" Annie smiled and nodded, fingers mindlessly toying with the amulet on her necklace. "You're an aunt," he suddenly stated, pulling his hand back to tug a hard copy of a picture from his pocket. In it was a young woman, pretty and tall with short brown hair that Annie could only assume to be Mika. She was sitting on a bench, smiling down at a bundle of joy with a tuff of black hair. He placed a second picture next to it, a little girl with dark brown matted hair and a hole-filled grin, probably no older than four. She held another small bundle in her small arms as Annie slid her finger over the worn colors.

"She's beautiful," Annie breathed as Peter smiled, nodding his head.

"That's Elle, and her little brother Pip," he introduced as unexplainable tears rushed to her eyes.

"I hope they're okay with everything that's happened," she whispered as he nodded.

"We were given a surprising warning by some military people one day that informed us we had to get out of there. So they took us here and protected us during the attack. Admittedly we've probably been exposed to more extravagance here than we were at home," he chuckled as Annie nodded her head.

"Maybe I could meet them…one of these days," Peter smiled and nodded.

"What about you?" He asked as Annie passed the pictures back to him, her gaze lingering on her niece's worry-free grin.

"What about me?"

"Well you've certainly done your fair share of changing the world," he smirked, "but what about the other half." Annie gave a coy smile as she looked down at her uniform.

"You've already met her," Annie was quick to dive into her and Liara's history (with a few unnecessary details left out) as Peter listened with a blank expression. "Though we are far less…eager about anything concrete. Asari don't exactly understand the idea of getting married. And we've been…busy." But the kind smile Annie expected to see on her brother's lips never returned.

"I…I don't understand," he remarked, a painful twist of fear forming in her stomach. In her life, the negativity towards her love life never came up. She was always out saving the world. Being in the military allowed for an overall understanding: if love found you, in a world of killing and pain, you did not deny it. But Peter was the first to pull away the veil of bliss…to expose the ignorance.

"I'm not sure what's so difficult to get," Annie remarked, a bit of sharpness in her voice. "Liara and I are lovers…"

"But how could you be with some _thing_ like her after everything you've been through?" Annie blinked at his questioned.

"Peter…you have no idea what I've been through."

"Of course I do, Elle," he reached over and touched her hand but she was quick to pull it back.

"It's Annie, Peter. And no, you don't. You know nothing about being lined up like cattle, just hoping that when they call your _number_ that they're gentle." Annie stood from her place, her chair skirting back with a loud screech.

"Calm down, Annie. You're causing a scene." But instead Annie retaliated by slamming her palms down on the table, making it impossible now for the café to ignore their conversation.

"Everyone out," Annie shouted, "Spectre business." The room hesitated as Annie gritted her teeth together, "I said out!" Quickly the room emptied, leaving the brother and sister alone at the table. Peter pursed his lips, sitting back in his seat as if he was the bigger man in this situation. "Try and imagine what would happen if someone took Elle," she breathed, bowing her head as her voice lowered. "Imagine how terrified she would be, how confused she would be that her daddy wasn't there to make everything better. You know nothing, Peter." Angry tears trickled off the end of her nose.

"I know I wouldn't have given in and I wouldn't let it affect the people I make my life with." Annie looked up, amazed at the man she was speaking to. He had been affected by what happened on Mindoir. But unfortunately rather than turning his anger on the ones that killed their parents…he had turned it on their entire species.


	78. Opening Up

"What are you supposed to do, Peter, when you're beaten for crying? For screaming? Disobeying? What are you supposed to do when they…touch you and claim that it'll 'get better?' How are you supposed to explain that to a child!?" Annie pushed off of the table, Peter's jaw dropped as the commander smoothed back several pieces of hair. "I didn't choose Liara because she's an asari, Peter. I chose Liara because out of everything that's happened in my life she makes me happy. I love her, Peter. And for a moment I hoped you would approve, that all that's left of my family would approve." She shook her head, pulling in a deep breath as she wiped at her eyes. "You're not my brother, Peter. Because my actual family, made up of humans, turians, salarians, asari, krogan, and even a drell are nothing but happy for what Liara and I have." Annie turned away as Peter stood from his seat.

"Annie wait," he called as Annie stopped, glancing over her shoulder.

"Tell Elle and Pip that Commander Shepard says hi," she paused, lowering her voice, "I wanted this time to be different." Annie then exited the café, leaving her long lost brother alone. It was painful, heartbreaking. She had finally found the only remaining member of her family and she couldn't even bring herself to look at him.

Liara intercepted Annie as she boarded the Normandy, a hopeful smile on her lips. "How was everything?" Liara asked as Annie leaned her hips on the back wall of the elevator, bowing her head.

"Next time you wish to poke into my family life, Liara, don't," Liara blinked as the doors opened to Annie's cabin.

"What do you mean? I…I did the tests and checked and double checked and…"

"It wasn't him, Liara!" Annie snapped, startling the woman, "It just…wasn't him. At least, it wasn't the Peter I remember." But how fair was that anyway? She'd been so young when it had all happened. Her big older brother was the greatest thing in the galaxy besides her own father. And maybe that was half the reason the meeting hadn't gone so well. He looked so much like her dad and all she could think about was how much angry she was at him for not protecting her as a little girl.

"Annie…what happened?" Liara asked, following the woman into the captain's quarters as Annie shook her head.

"He talked about how much of a perfect life he had. Being married…having kids..." she sighed. "He tried to tell me he understood, that he knew what it was like for me to grow up."

"Well maybe he does, he was your brother after all."

"No, Liara!" Annie hissed, snapping her head towards the asari. The commander had placed her things on her desk, her lover hesitantly standing by the aquarium. "He doesn't understand what it was like! No one does."

"Well maybe we would if you'd just tell us!" Liara snapped back. She'd lost her patience with the commander after their prior fights. Liara wouldn't just sit and be quiet anymore; she wouldn't let things continuously simmer till it was impossible to keep the lid on. If Annie had something she wanted to say then she better well say it.

"You want to know?" Annie asked, almost a sadistic look in her eyes as she stepped towards Liara. "The first year they spend trying to break you. Some children are easy; others take far longer. They treat you like an object, in no way deserving walking on the same ground as the rest of the world. After the first year the regular beatings begin. No longer for punishment, but for the simple reminder of who is in charge. And when you've finally become the perfect little slave…when you finally make their mouths' water," Annie stepped closer, Liara retreating till her back hit the glass wall. "They decide it's time to…enlighten you."

"Enlight…" she trailed off, finding no need to finish the question as her mind instantly jumped to the answer. "Oh Annie."

"The worst part of it," Annie continued, gripping Liara's wrists and pinning them tightly against either side of the asari's head, "is when you're finally 'free.' Because truthfully you're never free. You still go through each day like you would before. You still pretend like your Master is watching, waiting patiently to punish you. You have to learn to be human again…to discover what 'free will' even is."

"Annie…I'm sorry but you can't blame Peter for not knowing any better." Liara voice was soft as Annie turned her gaze down on the woman, anger shifting into sadness. Slowly she pulled away, releasing the woman as Liara rubbed at her wrists.

"He said being with you shouldn't make sense. That I should hate you because of what they did to me. But that's not true…I don't even hate Mira. Without everything that had happened to me," Annie looked down at her hands, imagining them covered in innocent people's blood, "I don't know if I would be where I am today. She's right. She made me, molded me into the perfect soldier."

"You're wrong," Liara breathed, stepping up and pulling at Annie's chin. "You were the one that found yourself again. You're the one that drafted yourself into the army. You're the one that drove yourself, pushed yourself to your limits. You belong here, Annie Shepard. Right now you belong to be the captain of this ship, leading all organic life to victory. Your past didn't make you. You did."

Annie gave a small sniffle and a smirk, "You're getting very good at your pep talks, you know." Liara giggled, cupping Annie's face.

"Well everyone needs a cheerleader," Annie laughed, quickly bending over as she held her tensing stomach. Liara simply gave her a confused look, resting her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry…I just…I just imagined you in one of those skimpy outfits," Liara rolled her eyes, unable to hide the small chuckle from her lips as Annie corrected herself, stepping back up to her lover. "Thank you, Liara. Again. Can I expect you this evening? Or will you have more work?" Liara thought about it before pushing onto her toes for a tender kiss.

"Only if you promise to sleep."

"Eventually," Annie smirked, letting Liara leave the room as Annie continued to stand there, just staring at the open door. Liara was right, like always. Annie deserved to be here with these people. But…sometimes she didn't know if she deserved Liara. The woman had become so much more than she was when they first met. She'd grown as a person and an individual. Annie almost wondered what would happen to them after this war, if Liara would even see a need to be with her anymore. It was a foolish thought and one she would certainly keep to herself. But she knew she was lucky. She was lucky to have made it out alive, to have found Anderson. She was lucky to prove herself as a human Spectre, to meet Joker, Ashley, Garrus, Tali, even Kaiden. And she was more than lucky to have scooped Liara up that fine day. She probably didn't tell the asari enough…but Annie felt lucky to have the sort of family she had.

And maybe…maybe she would apologize to Peter. Maybe she'd try to rekindle their relationship as brother and sister. But it would take time, far more time than a few meetings for coffee. Eventually, though, she would be able to see him as the old Peter and she would meet his wife and Elle and Pip. She'd hold them close and spoil them like an aunt should. But in all due time.

COMMENT: I had a different ending for this, but decided this fit in a little more, or at least there will be more to it, rather than a quick clean up. Enjoy!


	79. The Last Member of Her Family of Misfits

What she didn't have time for, though, was the addition of quarian admirals that would be hopping onto her ship. It wasn't that she didn't want them there…just didn't want to discuss what they were in the middle of. The quarian people had gone to war against the geth again, at probably the worst time. It was frustrating to watch them and see that they really just wanted all of this over but it was the small few, specifically two of the leaders, which made that impossible. They hammered into their people's brains that they _needed_ to fight the geth. As if regaining their home world while being battered and bruised would make their fight against the Reapers better.

Either way Annie was to be polite and a good host as always. Hopefully she could find some way to get the quarians to pull out of this war and into the one that mattered. Their fleet was the best in the galaxy and Annie would be a fool to give it up.

"Commander Shepard. A pleasure to see you again, though I wish I were under better circumstances," Annie smiled at Admiral Raan. Out of all of the admirals she was the one Annie liked the best, probably because she had the most sense out of all of them. Unfortunately, Annie's smile couldn't linger as she was forced to immediately get down to business.

"I'd hoped for you support in the fight against the Reapers. What's going on?" The quarians should have been the easiest of the aliens to bring on board. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain. For their people, to have them down as one of the main forces stopping the Reapers could hopefully bolster their reputation. But it seemed they cared about their own egos more.

Admiral Gerrel stepped up to answer the question, one of the surprising supporters of Annie when Tali was being accused of betraying her people. "Seventeen days ago, with precision strikes on four geth systems, the quarians initiated the war to retake our homeworld."

"Which was a clear violation of our agreement with the Council to avoid provoking the geth!" Admiral Koris. There were few people in the galaxy that made Annie's skin crawl and her lip pull back in a sneer. She wanted to call him disgusting and overly ambitious, he had the right intensions, but by the wrong means.

"A treaty violation is nothing compared to recovering our homeworld and advanced AI technology." Admiral Xen's words almost made Annie laugh. The woman was just so…oblivious. She reminded her a lot of Liara, with a little more craziness mixed in. The woman wanted to try and recreate the geth in the perfect image, to fix what was wrong about them while ignoring the risks of it all. Sometimes Annie could see her as some sort of witch alone in the woods, spending her free time toiling away with potions and spells. It would probably suit her better.

"Don't bother arguing," Admiral Koris interjected, his attention on Annie as if he could read her thoughts. "It won't stop our attempts to take out the geth."

"You're throwing yourselves at the geth? Again?" Annie blinked, they were all idiots. Every single one of them.

"And this time we made have destroyed our people for good," Annie couldn't help but chuckle at Admiral Koris. It wasn't because what he said was funny, but simply because of how he said it. The man was so matter-of-fact about it, seeming to just accept that it had happened but that it didn't really matter. Unbelievable.

"We'd driven the geth back to the home system when this signal began broadcasting to all geth ships," Admiral Gerrel started to explain, bringing up the galaxy map on the war console.

"The Reapers," Annie muttered. Of course they were involved with the geth, why wouldn't they be? The Reapers had spent this whole war turning all organics into perfect specimens to fights. Why change anything with the geth? They were already sentient beings, all they had to do was plug in and they were off.

"Under Reaper control, the geth are significantly more effective. Our fleet is pinned in the home system if we're going to win-"

"Win?" Admiral Koris interrupted Admiral Gerrel, "You insisted on involving the civilian ships, Admiral Gerrel! We need to retreat or we'll lose the liveships!"

"Where's the signal coming from?" Annie knew she would have to be the one to destroy it; the quarians didn't have the resources for an infiltration team. Plus, this wouldn't be Annie's first ride on a geth ship.

"Here. A geth dreadnought. It can outgun anything we've got and it's heavily defended," Admiral Gerrel explained, showing the dreadnought on the console.

"The Normandy's stealth drive can get us in undetected. I could board, then disable the Reaper command signal." And that would be the perfect description of 'easier said than done.'

"Yes, cutting off the signal should throw the geth into complete disarray," Admiral Xen agreed, surprising Annie.

"And while they're confused, you get to the mass relay and retreat," Annie stressed the end of the plan. The quarians had to get out of there; they didn't have the forces to take on the geth and the Reapers.

"Good. Our civilian ships have seen too much fighting already. Are you certain you can disable the signal?" Admiral Koris asked as Annie looked at the dreadnought on the console. She should be able to…though it would probably take longer than it could. Sometimes she'd wished she'd put more time into her technical abilities, but ever since she'd started teaming up with Tali it hadn't seemed as important.

"We'll get you out of there safely," Annie smiled, assuring the group as Admiral Raan glanced over her shoulder towards the opening door.

"Out newest admiral has also volunteered to offer her technical expertise."

"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, reporting for duty," a wide smile pulled on Annie's face s she stood up from the console. Perfect timing as always from the quarian.

"Glad you could make it, Tali." They ended the meeting as Annie and Tali exited the war room. It was clear the woman wasn't comfortable speaking casually among her fellow admirals. "Admiral?" Annie smirked, as Tali gave a small chuckle, rubbing nervously on the back of her neck.

"It's mostly a formality. I'm an expert on the geth. But…I'm glad you're here," she admitted as they entered the glass encased conference room.

"If I'd known it was this bad I would've come sooner."

"You've had your own troubles," Tali glanced out the window, watching space drift by. "I'm sorry about Earth." She took in a deep breath, "We have the largest fleet in the galaxy, if you help us we'll hit the Reapers with everything we've got." But then the power in her voice faded as she bowed her head in shame, "Or at least whatever we have left after this stupid war." Annie raised a confused brow, stepping towards her.

"I thought you'd support the invasion."

"No. After talking to Legion, I thought maybe there was a chance for peace."

"So why help them?"

"I'm an admiral. People look to me for guidance. Public disagreement would divide the fleet." Annie smirked, familiar with the position she was in. It always fell back to politics and trying to make everyone happy.

"I'll do what I can to help, Tali," Annie smiled as Tali nodded. But that wasn't everything, there was still worry hanging heavily on the quarian. "Is there something else, Tali?" Tali looked away, twisting her fingers as she looked at everything in the room but Annie.

"Could we talk somewhere more private?" Annie nodded, leading Tali from the conference room and to the elevator. They had been through a lot together and despite everything that was going on in the commander's private life, she could take the time to sit down and listen to a friend.

"You okay?" Annie asked as the doors closed behind them.

"No. No, I'm really not," she held her mask in her hand as Annie frowned. "Seventeen million lives are riding on me…and I don't know if I can save them." Annie considered commenting, telling her to join the club, but decided otherwise as she stepped closer.

"You're doing everything you can. If the fleet falls, it won't be because of you," she breathed, resting her hand on Tali's should and giving it a comforting squeeze.

"I helped my father, and…and Xen's ideas? The new tech that made an invasion too good to pass up? That's based on my father's work." She pulled away, walking towards the aquarium with her head bowed. "If they die because of me…if…if I don't…" Annie could hear the quivering in Tali's voice as the commander took in a deep breath. She stepped up and pulled on the quarian's shoulder, wrapping her arms around her good friend.

"We'll get them out of there safety, Tali." The woman gripped Annie tightly, nodding against her shoulder.

"I couldn't do this without you, Annie. I feel like I'm bluffing. Trying to convince them that the admiral's daughter knows what she's doing." Annie smirked, pulling away but still gripping the sides of Tali's shoulders.

"Not the admiral's daughter," Annie pulled Tali's chin up, "_the_ admiral."

"I know. And at least now, I can push back against the worst ideas. That's why I accepted the position…and because of you." Annie blinked, a little surprised at the confession.

"Me?"

"When they offered me this position, I asked myself what you'd do. I thought you'd take the chance to make things better." Admittedly, Annie was flattered as she gave a kind and thankful smile. "That probably sounds stupid," Tali continued, "it's just, I know I'm not really qualified for this…"

"Not qualified? Tali, I have on good authority your achievements over the years. I know plenty of references…one of them including a very dedicated turian." Tali blinked, clearing her throat and averting her gaze.

"Right…well, thanks again, Annie. I should probably get back to the Admirals." Annie smirked and nodded, letting the quarian go as she shook her head. So she'd taken this position because of Annie? The quarian was crazier than Annie thought. But she was dedicated…and good.


	80. Pushing Through the Fear

"All right, Garrus, you ready to head back onto a geth ship?" Annie asked as the pair readied themselves in the shuttle bay. The turian laughed, adjusting his riffle.

"I never thought I would be the first time we did it, Shep. So I guess I'm a little more ready this go around," Annie smirked, glancing over as her armor started to get readjusted by Liara.

"Watch yourself. Make sure you have no oxygen leaks and try to get in and out of there as quickly as possible," Liara stressed as Annie took Liara's hands from her armor and slid them over her shoulders.

"Whatever you say, mom. Did you pack my lunch?" Annie teased as Liara wrinkled her nose in annoyance, making it impossible for Annie to not kiss it. Garrus added his own little chuckle in the background but kept his thoughts mostly to himself.

"Just be careful," she asked again as Annie nodded, the elevator opening to expose Tali all ready to go. But there was hesitation as she glanced over at Garrus, the pair sharing a small moment that made Annie smile. After so many years together they still were like two little school kids on the playground. Annie would be surprised if Garrus didn't start throwing dirt in Tali's face or punching her in the arm. Though, Annie seemed to have thought too soon.

"Good to see you, Garrus," Tali smiled, stepping forward as the turian nervously cleared his throat.

"You too. I heard you're now an Admiral…um…great job," he remarked, giving her a friendly punch on the shoulder. Annie simply rolled her eyes, stealing a kiss on the cheek from Liara before waving the team into the elevator.

They would be entering through a maintenance tunnel that a suicide flyer had destroyed during the fighting. Annie needed to make sure they could even get next to the ship without any issues if she was going to be walking out in the middle of space. Admittedly, after what had happened three years ago Annie had accumulated a bit of a phobia towards walking in space. She didn't have a problem flying around, visiting different planets and so forth, but every time she felt zero gravity take hold of her body she just remembered her painful suffocation. It still made a shiver roll down her spine.

"We're approaching the quarian home system. ETA to Rannoch: five minutes," Joker explained over his shoulder. While the pilot and Annie hadn't had much time to talk during all of this, it was still clear the man was there if she needed him. Plus, he owed her one after convincing him to go after EDI. Sure, she was a robot but when in a war for the end of the galaxy why should it matter? The thought made Annie linger on her "discussion" with Peter. It shouldn't matter and yet it still bothered her that it seemed to matter to him.

"What have you got from the comm buoys?" Annie asked as Joker tapped a few things into his control panel before leaning on an armrest with a heavy sigh.

"Pretty much a big ol' shitstorm, Commander."

"I have detected several hundred unique ship signatures engaged in active combat," EDI added to the conversation as Annie nodded along. She truly didn't understand how the two people were able to comprehend everything going on with the shifting control panel. Then again, that's why she wasn't the one flying the thing.

"Take us in, Joker," the man smiled and nodded, lacing his fingers and giving them a good crack. Annie wondered if he'd ever broken a finger doing that.

"Stealth drive engaged. Only way they'll detect us is if you all start singing the Russian national anthem." The Normandy zipped into the battle zone, the blackness of space now littered with energy beams and ship debris. Joker was right; it was a shitstorm.

Annie headed towards the side door of the ship with Garrus and Tali beside her, "All right, once we're aboard, we find whatever's broadcasting the Reaper signal and shut it down. Tali, hacking will be your job," Tali nodded as they stopped at the door.

"Hey, Tali, maybe now that they have another dextro aboard they'll get better turian food." Garrus smirked as Tali gave a bit too much of an overeager giggle in response. "Dr. Michel did get me some dextro-amino chocolate. You're welcome to it once we're back…" he then paused, seeming to realize what he said. "I mean, if you want to share it…with Shepard or whomever."

"For once, I'm gonna have to say no one that one," Annie smirked. "You two can have at it, I insist."

"She got you turian chocolate?" Tali asked and immediately Annie could hear that little hint of girlish jealousy in her voice.

"Yes…why?"

"Oh, nothing." Garrus looked at Annie trying to find some sort of answer to Tali's sudden change in mood. He'd figure it out eventually. All Annie did in response was give him a comforting pat on the shoulder pad before stepping forward.

After the awkwardness they were quick to move onto getting aboard, which forced Annie to walk along a tube alone in order to secure the ships connection. Her team would follow once she was safely on the other side.

Annie stepped out of the ship, glancing at the torn up metal and then at the space around her. She was nervous, twitchy, and could feel her body trying to hold onto every lung full of oxygen she could, as if preparing for when her oxygen tank failed. Slowly she took a step, the metal immediately screeching as it shifted under her weight. Annie winced, but she couldn't stop now. "Tali," Annie breathed, forcing her gaze to look at the end as she continued forward. "Tell me about yourself…how have things been?"

_Um…the usual sort of things. Dealing with politics, the geth, and so on. Why do you ask?_ Annie swallowed nervously, having to look down to make sure she wouldn't accidentally fall through a hole in the tube.

"Just looking for a bit of a distraction. Keep talking, don't worry about sounding like you're babbling," she muttered. "Rannoch looks pretty nice from up here," Annie added, carefully knocking away a floating bit of debris.

_Really?_

"Yup, looks great."

_Annie…are you all right?_

"Just peachy," Annie lied as she started trying to estimate the number of steps remaining till she reached the end.

_Shepard, I've been alerted to your increased heart rate._

"Perfect, thanks EDI," Annie muttered as she took a step, suddenly feeling the metal give way under feet. Panic settled in as she scrambled through was felt like molasses for a hold, catching the small bit of docking tube that remained on the dreadnought.

_Shepard, you all right?_ Garrus asked as Annie let out a relieved sigh.

"Ya, but you two aren't coming on the same docking tube. I'll get inside and find another one. Get Tali on the dreadnought schematics so I knew which one to override." Annie then practically threw herself into the dreadnought once the door opened, thankful for the artificial gravity. She'd made it, alive and well and fortunately the worst that had happened was that the platform had given out from under her. But that crisis had been averted and now all she had to do was go help Tali and Garrus get on board.


	81. The Third Wheel

She pressed the necessary buttons on another tube a little ways away. Tali and Garrus were waiting and probably looking far less panicked than Annie had on her entrance. "So when you said there was no other way to get on here…?" Annie asked as Tali averted her gaze.

"I don't know if I said that was the _only_ way on board…more of the closest." Annie crossed her arms over her chest, but she was unable to hold the annoyed glare as Tali pushed on ahead.

"Well the next time we have to invade a geth dreadnought I'm double checking your schematics," Annie hurried after as Tali gave a hard laugh.

"Double checking my schematics? Does Liara know about this?" Annie blinked, comprehending the joke before rolling her eyes.

"Har har, Tali. Besides…I don't want to be in competition for your affections."

"Wh-what?" Tali stuttered as Annie smirked, giving her a playful nudge in her side and gesturing lightly towards Garrus. The turian had stepped slightly away from the group, glancing at some of the nearby geth tech and seemingly unaware of the conversation. "Let's just deal with that signal," Tali sighed, doing her best to change the subject as they moved on.

Annie might've been a little…pushy at times, but she couldn't help herself. The whole crew saw it when Tali and Garrus were together. They were perfect for one another. Both hardheaded. Both tech-savy. And both devoted to their species' safety. After almost four years of spending almost every day with one another she was surprised they were still barely able to form sentences. Then again, maybe their people had a lot to do with that. They were both seen as important members of their societies and were probably inclined to "continue" that line of success. And yet for as long as Annie had known both of them she had never heard the two talk about anyone else. Sure, Garrus discussed past relations but they were always broken down into their utilitarian nature. And Tali was always quick to claim that her biosuit made relationships impossible. Annie wanted to believe that the two were just too scared to admit it to themselves. So maybe she believed they deserved a little push in the right direction. No harm. No foul.

"Vents…always with the vents," Tali muttered as they started making their way through the ship. Annie couldn't help but smirk, avoiding spouts of releasing steam as they attempted to remain undetected.

"You seemed pretty comfortable in them on the Collector ship," Annie commented.

"I got set on fire!"

"Details, little details." Suddenly a bullet pierced her shield and ricocheted off her shoulder pad, forcing Annie to twist to the side. They ducked down behind a console, geth starting to file out of what looked like every sort of nook and cranky ahead of them. "Shit, I didn't hear an alarm," Annie breathed, attempting to ignore the soreness in her shoulder as she fired at the enemy.

"They're geth, Annie. They don't need an alarm because they're all made up of the same software."

"Right…" Annie breathed as Garrus smirked.

"Details," Garrus mimicked making Annie roll her eyes as Tali gave a small giggle. They moved forward but suddenly Annie heard the sharp sound of a proximity mine. "Tali, look out!" Garrus shouted, diving for the quarian. He tackled her to the ground as the mine went off, his shield fizzling while Annie tried to cover them; Tali helping Garrus get back into cover.

"Thanks," she panted, the pair gazing at one another for a moment, seeming to be in their own little world. Annie rolled her eyes, yes, she'd seen that look before – or at least she could see it from Garrus, she could only assume Tali was making the same expression – but now was not the time to linger.

"Don't worry, lovebirds. I've got it under control," she shouted, quick to break the pair's moment as they returned to dealing with the immediate threat. For a moment Annie figured they'd make some remark towards her words but it seemed they would rather just pretend it had never happened all together.

They entered the operational center of the ship where Tali was supposed to be able to disable the signal. Getting to it wasn't exactly the easiest considering the geth security waiting for them, but they were able to get the job done. The only issue being that it seemed the geth had taken counter measures towards shutting down the Reaper signal.

"Dammit, they've locked down the Reaper signal. We can't shut it down from here in the operational center." Tali huffed, typing more things into the console till the schematics of the dreadnought came up in the center of the room. She frantically searched the systems before looking up as a part of the ship began to glow red. "There, the signal's coming from the drive core! But how do we get there? The geth have sealed emergency bulkheads to block us off. We need a path that goes up the length of the ship and by the drive core."

"What about the main battery," Garrus offered as a red line along the ship appeared. "We could initiate a fire drill and fool the ship into opening up its emergency exits for us." Tali and Annie stared at Garrus, in somewhat amazement. Sure, he was always a great strategist but his idea seemed to come out of nowhere.

"That…that could work. I never even considered that," Tali breathed, turning back to the console. "Just be ready for oncoming forces once I set off the fire alarms." Annie nodded, adjusting her riffle as she glanced towards Garrus.

"Someone ate their dextro-brain-flakes this morning," Annie teased.

"Hardly, I just know that security measures aren't really considered when there's a fire."

"No, Garrus," Tali remarked, stepping away, "that really was brilliant." Unfortunately for them and for Garrus's ego they didn't have much more time to chat as geth began to file in from the maintenance tube. But as they began heading down the ship Tali continued to relay information on the fleet. It wasn't sounding good. Admiral Koris' ship had been destroyed and the Heavy Fleet wouldn't be able to hold much longer. They needed to hurry.

Of course, their troubles didn't end there as they entered where the energy of the geth cannons seemed to settle. It was a long hall with continuous walls of shield destroying shockwaves. Annie didn't like being here, especially with the added geth attacks. Why couldn't they be affected by the shockwaves? For once why could the cosmos just make her life a little easier?

They charged into the maintenance elevator, relieved they were no longer trying to out-run electricity. Annie hoped it would be a moment to breath, but as her luck always had it, that was the exact opposite.

A geth came running out of a nearby door, rocket launcher in hand. "Oh shit, get down!" Annie shouted as Tali and Garrus moved away just in time. The missile smashed into one of the elevator's clips, destroying it as Annie realized the rocket hadn't been meant to hit them. "Go!" She ordered, her team clambering up onto the nearest ledge as Annie tried her best to scale up the falling elevator pad.

"Grab my hand, Annie!" Tali shouted, her torso hanging over the edge with one arm outstretched. Garrus held onto her hips, keeping her from slipping off as Annie jumped for the hand, catching her wrist and holding on tight as the turian yanked both women to safety. Or at least as safe as three people in their position could be.

"I'm really hoping the drive core is right around the corner," Annie admitted as Tali and Garrus nodded in agreement.


	82. Backstabbed

And it was, as they came waltzing into the room full of big wires and a giant orb of sizzling electricity. "Yup, that looks like Reaper tech if I've ever seen it," Garrus commented as Annie stepped up to the console.

"But what's powering it?" Tali asked as Annie opened the pod in the center of the room, the air leaving her lungs in a surprised gasp. "Legion!" Tali cried, looking up on the geth-friend that was attached to the machine by all manner of wires. It looked painful, even for a geth.

"Shepard-Commander…Creator Zorah, help us."

"We'll get you out of here," Annie promised.

"I never thought I'd say this…but it's good to see you again," Tali breathed.

"Likewise, Creator Zorah," it acknowledged, making Annie smirk. This was what the quarians should be striving for: a _friendship_ between them and the geth, not victory over them. But she knew that would be asking for a lot.

Legion directed them to the necessary consoles as well as alerting them to approaching geth forces. It was semi-helpful, but at the same time Annie wished they could have just waltz out here without having to worry about getting shot at. Then again it would be a normal day with Commander Shepard without it.

So they freed Legion, only to discover that Admiral Gerrel was more of a son of a bitch than she remembered. Legion had kindly disabled the weapons and barriers on the dreadnought, but it had been done in a way to take the ship out of the fight. Instead Gerrel saw it as get another reason to attack…with Annie and her team still on it. "Dammit what are they doing?" Tali shouted as Annie ducked behind cover, trying to will her shields back up.

"Focus on the geth, we'll deal with the admirals later!" The comment was meant to help her self as well. Annie wanted nothing more than to smash Gerrel's breathing mask and then slap him upside the head. He was being an idiot and risking his people's lives just to take out one deactivated ship. Not including the fact that his allies were still aboard.

Immediately the ship started to fall apart around them and Legion was quick to direct Annie and her team to the fighter bay. For once Annie was thankful for having a geth on her side considering it was the only thing able to pilot the geth fighter. Suddenly there was an explosion as the artificial gravity cut off and Annie went drifting towards the fighter. She forced herself to focus getting inside, clambering up the vehicle before tossing herself into the storage area of the ship.

"Does the storage area have adequate room for you, Shepard-Commander?" Legion asked as multiple explosions rattled outside.

"It's fine, we're all friends here. Now go!" At that Legion fired up the fighter and they were spit out of the dreadnought. The commander quickly contacted the Normandy to let them know they were coming aboard in a geth fighter as they drifted towards the Alliance ship. All of that was too close and certainly didn't need to end in that way. She glanced out the back of the Normandy at the exploding dreadnought, shaking her head. It wasn't that she was upset about them attacking the ship while she was onboard…it was that they ignored the risk an attack like that posed.

She stormed into the war room, barely able to get her helmet off as she jabbed at Admiral Gerrel's chest. "What in the _hell_ do you think you were doing?"

"I was simply acting within my authority as admiral of the Heavy Fleet," Admiral Gerrel explained.

"And what about me? And my team?"

"You escaped unharmed. You're military, you must understand."

"I understand that you wasted your chance to withdraw safely! This is exactly the kind of shortsighted, bloodthirsty behavior I was worried about."

"If you could retake Earth with a little friendly fire, you'd do it in a heartbeat!" Annie tightened her hand into a fist, debating on making a swing at him.

"You don't know me," she growled as Tali rested her hand on Annie's shoulder. The commander huffed, leaning back slightly, "You're lucky I need your ships, admiral." She couldn't tell if her words had even gotten through his thick head or if they'd just stopped short of his breathing mask. Either way he was soon off again, making his way back to the Heavy Fleet. Apparently she'd had the quarian pegged all wrong, even Admiral Xen was starting to look like a sane person next to him.

"Shepard-Commander," Legion announced after Admiral Gerrel had left, "we are here to offer assistance."

"What the hell is this?" Admiral Raan asked, stepping back a few feet, as Annie had to remember how Tali had first reacted to Legion.

"Hold on, everyone. Let's just calm down," Annie requested as Legion came down into the center of the war room. "Its name is Legion. It helped me destroy the Collectors."

"This is a fascinating prototype. With some testing I may be able to-"

"No," Annie interrupted Admiral Xen, refusing to let the geth-crazed woman finish her train of thought. "Legion helped me defeat the Collectors."

"So did your pistol. But I don't see you going and giving it a name now, do I?"

"Legion is my friend and is our best source of information on the geth. Meaning your 'scientific benefits' are off the table." Annie and Admiral Xen started at one another for a good long moment before the quarian gave a scoff and turned away. The commander would give no more flexibility to these quarians. She didn't care if Tali was one of them, they were wearing her patience thin.

Legion then continued to explain more about the geth and the Reapers. Apparently the signal from the dreadnought had been meant as a long-range transmitter. But on Rannoch there was a short-range transmitter that would prove to make attacking the geth head-on difficult. It was clear they would need to find it and take it out, otherwise there would be more issues than the dreadnought for the quarian fleets. And in the long run, that meant less quarian ships for Annie against the Reapers. She hated it.

COMMENTS: Sorry if these chapters seem a little...bleh. They sounded more interesting when I was writing them but after reading over them I'm not as pleased. I may rewrite or add more later, depending. Either way, hope you enjoy it anyway!


	83. An Important Deal

Annie yawned as she stepped away from her cabin, arms stretching high over her head. Catnaps were good, easily, and half the time she wasn't even fully asleep. Helped her avoid any sort of undesired dreams. And normally, the commander had the trip down the elevator to make sure she looked presentable. Instead she had to stop short before running into Garrus, the turian looking unnaturally nervous.

"Shepard," he greeted, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Garrus? Is something wrong?" She started making her way towards the elevator, hoping they could talk and walk. But as Garrus stepped in front of her it was clear the man didn't want this conversation to reach certain ears.

"With everything that's going on with the quarians…I…I insist I go with you to help deactivate the transmitter." Annie could help the surprised chuckle, adjusting the bottom of her top that had ridden up some while stretching.

"Okay? Can I ask why?"

"To avoid laughter from a…certain someone, I feel like I owe it to Tali to be there when her people retake Rannoch." Annie blinked, a little surprised at his request. It wasn't that she didn't want him to come…she just never figured he would actually say anything about it. He'd been so quiet about how he felt towards Tali, she half expected him to refuse any chance to tag along.

"I will on one request," Annie smirked; deciding now was as good as any to take advantage of this situation. "No more tiptoeing, Garrus. Once we help Tali there will be no more of your stumbling around. Got it?" The turian's face fell as Annie smirked, patting him on the shoulder as she walked towards the elevator. "Come on, Vikarian, best not keep thy princess waiting," she teased as the turian hesitantly followed.

"You're a horrible person, you know that."

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you over my 'Savior of the Citadel' and 'Destroyer of the Collectors' titles." Garrus reached over and playfully shoved Annie's head to the side, initiating a somewhat pitiful looking wrestling match. As if the two knew they couldn't actually wrestle but couldn't hold back the desire to. To say they got a handful of weird looks on the CIC when the doors opened would be putting it lightly.

They corrected themselves, Garrus remarking on needing to finish up calibrating the guns as Annie headed to the war room. There would be a few more details to line up. It was clear that the only way to get the quarians out of this war was to help them win it. Then again, maybe it would give Annie a chance to let them see the other side, the peaceful side. They could truly prosper from the geth's help, especially with their fragile bodies. Having a civilization built on improving itself could make their adjustments back to their homeworld a much smoother and quicker process.

"Commander," Admiral Raan greeted, "we've located where on the Rannoch the signal is being transmitted."

"Once the signal is disabled, the geth will pose not threat to creator forces," Legion added and Annie was surprised to hear what seemed like doubt in the geth's tone.

"You sound conflicted, Legion," Annie noted as the AI turned away from the console.

"While the Old machines have unethical purposes, their upgrades have vastly improved our people. Observe." It brought the geth processing signal up on the console as Annie waited for it to be explained to her. "This is a single get processing signal…and this is a single geth processing signal with the Old Machine's software." The imaged changed, what had been a calm blue orb with the every so often spark of information evolved into a pulsing red sphere. It looked almost like a beating heart.

"That's a fully evolved AI," Admiral Raan breathed.

"Yes. We do not agree with the goals of the Old Machines, but we find this growth…beautiful. Indicative of life." Annie had to admit she was impressed. It was like watching EDIs evolution the year before, watching the AI stretch out a see what it was like to make decisionss and suggestions based on her own free will. Legion was right, it was beautiful.

"You're right," Annie smiled.

"Commander!" Admiral Raan objected as the commander found it difficult to hold her tongue.

"These are living beings, admiral. Just like you and me. Destroying this signal will be the same as wiping out an entire race!"

"But…they allied with the Reapers!"

"To save themselves from you," Legion admitted as Annie bowed her head in thought.

"Maybe they don't have to die," she remarked as Admiral Raan seemed about to revolt but decided it wasn't worth the time. And it wasn't. Annie was making a simple statement. Maybe they didn't have to die, maybe Legion was right and they could find a way to save them all. Annie could only hope as Raan moved on to discuss newly constructed technology to help take out the base while they were down there.

Annie readied her team, pulling herself onto the shuttle after a quick goodbye to Liara. She could tell the asari was pleased to have a little time to work. Certainly she was still worried about Annie but she needed to keep up with the Crucible as well as her responsibility as the Shadow Broker.

"Don't forget our deal," Annie smirked, nudging Garrus in the side as the turian tried to ignore her.

"What deal?" Tali asked, the last to board the vessel as Cortez started warming up the shuttle.

"I do believe Shepard-Commander is referring to a conversation about you and Vikarian's relationship status." Legion noted as Annie slapped her palm against her face. Tali nervously cleared her throat nodding her head. "Have no fear, Creator Zorah, Shepard-Commander would not make a choice that was not for the best." The quarian then laughed, looking up at Annie and sneaking a glance at Garrus. Annie had to admit she was surprised no one had denied the occurrence or that Tali hadn't tried to say she wasn't interested. Maybe the two were finally seeing the stupidity in making this too complicated…or maybe they were seeing that time was really running out. War had an amazing ability to change people's perspectives on things and make them realize just how important certain people are in their lives

"I know, Legion. Thank you."

"You are welcome, Creator Zorah."

COMMENTS: Apologies on the lateness of this chapter. Didn't end up getting to write any yesterday and haven't had much time to play today either. Sadly I will only be posting one chapter. But have no fear! Tomorrow is Saturday and you bet I'll be cranking out three chapters of their events on Rannoch. Enjoy!


	84. Signs of Life

Annie settled herself into one of the shuttle's seats. It was a quiet ride, everyone seemingly unable to find any words. This was about to be a major historical moment, just like on Tachanka. She would once again be at the forefront of change but Annie couldn't help shake the feeling that it would be for nothing. All of this that she was doing was in hopes of stopping the Reapers. But if she didn't, if she failed, then finding the cure and giving the quarian's their homeworld back would mean nothing. They would be footnotes to the overall stain of the Reaper's domination.

She shouldn't be thinking that way, Annie knew that. And so she kept a lot of the thoughts to herself. She was quieter aboard the Normandy. Certainly she would crack the every so often joke but Annie found it all felt forced. She had an image to keep up. She had to remain the strong and confident Commander Shepard. Her crew depended on it, Earth depended on it. But they couldn't all believe she ignored any thoughts of defeat. They had to see that that simply wasn't possible. She wasn't a young private anymore with the whole world ahead of her. Now Annie _was_ someone. She was a leader and a symbol. She was the hero that the galaxy needed and like any hero she had to believe in victory. And maybe reclaiming Rannoch would help; maybe it would ease the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders. She needed something to go right in all of this destruction.

"The targeting laser needs a line of sight. What's the highest point?" Annie asked Legion, forcing her thoughts back into the dark corners of her mind. Maybe one day she'd bring light to them and clean out the cobwebs…but now wasn't the best of times.

"The upper entrance. Target the base before the geth can organize resistance," it responded.

"What about you?"

"We will deactivate defense systems and acquire an escape vehicle."

"You can do that?" Annie knew that the geth sometimes over-looked major weaknesses in their fortifications (such as windows on their frigates) but defense systems didn't seem like one of them.

"This unit still carries remnants of the Old Machine upgrade code. We can break any geth security." Legion's head bowed, the flaps on the top seeming to fall back like a guilty dog. It was surprising to Annie, seeing the AI react…emotionally. "You are concerned," it stated flatly, raising its head again as the shameful posture quickly disappeared.

"You know your limits. I trust you," Annie smiled, standing from her seat to grip a handle on the ceiling of the shuttle. "I'm more concerned you didn't tell me about the upgrades."

"You were tolerant of our recovery of geth intelligences from the server, but this matter is different. Personal." Annie frowned, glancing back at Garrus and Tali before returning to Legion.

"You were ashamed," Tali breathed, her conclusion seeming to surprise both Annie and Garrus. The quarians were always quick to deny the geth's ability to act like an organic…to feel. And yet here she was, making a statement that had probably never stumbled across a quarian's thoughts.

"Shame is an emotional or cognitive response to societal judgment. It should not apply here," Legion defined as Annie reached over, resting her hand on its shoulder like she would for any friend.

"We're on your side here, Legion. We want to help your people," Annie responded trying to tempt the AI out of its synthetic box.

"We did not intend to offend," Legion explained as Annie let her hand drop, shaking her head.

"How did we get here? The geth are better than this."

"No," Legion stated, turning its head down again like a scolded child. "Based on empirical evidence, they are not." Annie sighed, rubbing her temples in frustration. "Shepard-Commander," Legion stated as the shuttle began lowering to Legion's drop point. "You were the first organic in history to willingly comply with us since the war 290 years ago. We do not wish for you to be the last." The door then opened and Legion hoped onto to the rocky terrain.

"Legion," Annie called, stopping the geth from moving on as it turned to her. "Good luck."

"Acknowledged." Annie watched the geth run off as the shuttle lifted to carry them several meters further ahead. She didn't want to be the last to welcome the geth either…but the war between the geth and the quarians was a deep wound. It wouldn't be so easy to convince them that destroying the race wasn't the right way. But it was a way Annie would strive for. She refused to let beings like Legion just disappear because it was the easier way out. This whole war would simply end of that was the case. If she took the easy way out she probably would be dead on Earth by now, the planet would have been destroyed, and another cycle would have started. It was for the peace that Legion and Tali hoped for that she would fight till her last breath.

"Come on, we've gotta take out that signal," Annie stated, pulling out her riffle as Garrus and Tali followed only for Tali to randomly stop. She looked out over the stretch of mountains and cliffs of Rannoch that reached out to the bright blue horizon. It was certainly beautiful. The quarian glanced down at her feet, kicking at a loose rock a little smaller than her palm.

"I can't believe it," Tali stated as Annie stopped herself next to her friend. "I don't think it's really sunk in yet. The homeworld. My world." Annie smiled, hearing the awe in her voice as she glanced up at Garrus. But he seemed to have a different view on the place. His features were somber, his gaze distant as if he wasn't really here. And it was then a thought occurred to Annie that made her stomach turn in an odd combination of excitement and sadness. Like Garrus, she had watched her homeworld burn beneath the force of the Reapers. But for once they would be bringing a home back into the galaxy. They wouldn't let Rannoch have the same fate.

COMMENTS: Apologies on the lateness and lack of three chapters. Had a bit of a late night last night that turned into a late and slow morning. I realized if I posted all three chapters I won't have any content for tomorrow. So thank you for your patience, I'll get back on schedule tomorrow, promise! Enjoy!


	85. Saving Her Home

"Look at the sky," Tali continued, glancing back up at the ecosystem around them. "And the rock formations? They used to write poems about them."

"Maybe when we're done you'll write a new one," Annie offered as Tali gave a small chuckle.

"I'm not so sure, poetry has never been my strong suit. I have a difficult time expressing my feelings in words," Tali glanced towards Garrus, the pair making eye contact for a second. It was as if they had had a silent conversation, a moment of understanding between the two that Annie would never be able to fully comprehend. "This is Rannoch," she breathed, gesturing outwards, "the world of our ancestors. Our bodies carried the seeds that spread the desert grass." She stepped towards the cliff's edge in front of them as Annie slowly followed. "You've heard me say, 'Keelah se'lai?' The best translation I can come up with is, 'By the homeworld I hope to see someday.'"

"Looks like you're seeing it today," Garrus stated, moving up to stand next to Tali. Annie looked at their silhouettes in the evening light, at the outlines of some of the closest friends she had ever had; two strong and intelligent people, looking to change the galaxy for the better with every day that passed. So much of the galaxy believed they were the followers to the great Commander Shepard, but in truth they were a major part of Annie's inspiration. Their passion drove her as much as Liara did. And that would never change.

Tali glanced up at Garrus with a smile as she lifted her hands, using her thumbs and index fingers to make a box in front of her. "The living room window will go right here," Garrus laughed, tilting his head so he could see through her makeshift viewfinder.

"Something I should know?" He asked as Tali gave a bit of a nervous laugh, lowering her hands.

"I just claimed the land. I know, it doesn't mean much, but when this is over…I'll have a home."

"The quarians spent centuries as nomads. You think you can go back to living in one place?" Annie asked, stepping up to the other side of Tali.

"We have gotten used to carrying our homes around with us," Tali admitted as Garrus leaned down, picking up the stone Tali had kicked before and handing it to her. She hesitantly reached for it, turning away from Annie as Garrus placed his other hand delicately on top of hers.

"How about we start with this?" He smiled as she looked down at it and then back up at the turian. "And maybe after we win this war…I can come visit."

"I…I would like that, Garrus." They hesitated for a moment before distant commotion broke their silence, forcing Tali to pull her hand away and tuck the rock into her belt. Unfortunately, they still had a lot of work to do before they could really consider thinking about real estate. But sometimes it was the future projects that kept the world turning.

They moved up a nearby hill, coming over the crest to find the geth main facility. It was massive and after jumping off the ledge it was clear the geth wouldn't make it easy for them. Annie didn't know if Legion had set off an alarm or if fighting their way through was inevitable, but she didn't care. All she was focused on was taking out the Reaper signal and cleaning this innocent planet of the filth. She wanted something to show to the resistance. Saving Rannoch would give the galaxy hope, it would show all those fighting that there was an end to this. And hopefully it would show Annie that she could do this, that she could save the galaxy like everyone expected her to.

Radio chatter from the fleet filled Annie in, keeping them updated on their movements while bullets screamed over her head. It was moments like this that Annie flourished, moments where any one else might rightfully crumble under the pressure. She was expected to infiltrate a facility of geth in order to take out a Reaper signal with a giant targeting laser. It would seem impossible but it had to be done. Someone had to do it or this war would simply be a long drawn out loss. It was moments like this that Annie knew where she belonged in the world. If anything her mind would go into a sort of limbo, emotionless and silent. She had first "created" the little world during her time with Mira. It was during those days that she knew the beatings would come, that they would be harsh and merciless, and she would have to tolerate them. That was it. And just like then she would power through this impossibility for the sake of the fleet and the rest of the galaxy.

They stepped outside, looking at a massive hole in the ground where the signal was originating. Indestructible blast shields covered it and once again it made Annie's original mission more difficult than it was originally believed to be. They were forced to make a small detour back into the facility, Legion directing them to the necessary control room for the shields. Annie felt like the geth troopers would never stop…and when they did it was only to allow the geth juggernauts a turn.

Juggernauts were massive hunks of synthetics and almost twice the size of an average geth. They were built for war, covered in masses of weapons and technological advancements. Annie hated having to deal with them. Half the time she felt like luck was the only reason she was able to take them out. And unfortunately, after running through half the facility she had to admit she wasn't at her full strength to be able to take out the multiple machines in the room.

Annie, Tali, and Garrus took on each of their own, dodging and slamming bullets into its body in hopes of slowing it down. Combat and defense drones flew around the room, clashing together as Tali ducked behind some cover to try and catch her breath as well as reload. Annie glanced over in her direction, fear shooting through her body. "Tali!" The commander cried as the quarian was plucked from her waist-high cover by the juggernaut. She grabbed at the tightening metal grip around her neck as Annie tried to help but her own geth wasn't making it easy. It swung at her, forcing Annie to roll out of the way just in time as she kicked at the side of its knee. It sparked and broke, exposing wires as the juggernaut fell to one knee. She turned back to Tali, hoping the quarian was still holding on.

All the while, though, Garrus had laid out his juggernaut, turning his attention towards Tali's with bloodthirsty anger. He jumped onto its back, startling it enough to drop Tali as the quarian started choking and gasping on the floor. The juggernaut reached back, trying to get Garrus off but the turian refused to get taken down that easily. He ripped his pistol from his hip and fired an entire clip into the machine's wire-based spine, the hunk of metal crumbling to the floor. But the turian wasn't finished as he gripped the head, turning it in a fashion that Annie knew wasn't good for the geth till it popped off in a mass of sparking wires. The light in the head slowly faded to darkness as Annie finished off her wounded juggernaut, Garrus stepping to Tali's side to help her up.

"Are you all right?" He asked, the quarian still wheezing in her suit as she nodded.

"No immediate damage," she coughed out only for Garrus to reach for the black material on her neck, his fingers brushing against the sliced barrier and exposed skin. Tali turned her face away, swatting gently at his hand before turning back to him. "I will be fine. We have to take care of that signal." Annie could see Garrus wasn't entirely sure, but they both knew Tali was right. The quarian would have to tolerate the cold from her damaged suit as long as she was able to save her people.


	86. Defeating the Beast

They opened the blast-shield doors, now ready to make their way back out and meet up with Legion. This would be it, their one and only chance to take out the Reaper influence and to win this war for the quarians. Annie forced herself to ignore what was about to happen, that the geth race was about to be extinguished. She would try to convince the quarians for mercy…but from the radio chatter she knew she would need a miracle to do so.

Annie darted out onto a ledge, pulling out the targeting laser the quarians had given her as she looked down the giant hole. But it was then she came to a fearsome realization. She expected the signal to be just a giant computer of sorts, but also the sort of giant computer that just sits around unable to do anything. This was no such computer. It was a Reaper. She quickly aimed at the bright red center of the beast, watching as the Normandy swooped down and fired on the monster. But in the explosion debris was knocked up to the ledge, breaking the supports and making it impossible for Annie to remain stable.

She did the only thing she could think of and jumped from the ledge. It crumbled under her as she fell the hundred meters, doing her best to relax her body and let her shields take the brunt of the fall. Annie certainly wouldn't recommend it, but it was better than being flung down there with the Reaper as Tali and Garrus found a much "safer" route down to her. The three made a run for the Legion, of whom had found a geth vehicle to pick them up in.

They clambered aboard, the Reaper now exposing itself from its hiding place as Legion sped off. Hopefully they could lead it away from the facility in order for Annie to give the fleet another chance at taking it out. Why did it have to be a Reaper? Why couldn't she just blow it up and be done with it? She would happily take another army of geth over trying to taking out a Reaper with nothing more than a turret and a targeting gun that required her to stand still and aim for a good period of time.

Suddenly masses amounts of firepower slammed against the Reaper, forcing it to the ground as it sparked and sizzled. _What did we hit?_ Admiral Gerrel asked over the comm-system as Legion stopped the vehicle, allowing Annie to get a good look at the beast.

"Its firing chamber, looks like a weak point when it's priming," she explained, readying the turret for another round.

"We still have ample time to escape," Legion remarked from below as Annie looked at the shifting monster. No. She wouldn't run. She wouldn't let this thing win just because it was big and scary.

_Dammit, the jamming towers have us aiming manually. We don't have a precise shot!_ Admiral Gerrel alerted Annie as the commander frowned, stepping away from the turret and jumping down onto the ground.

"This ends now. If we run away, the geth stay under Reaper control, and the quarians are dead." Annie turned to the hunk of metal, pulling out the quarian weapon as she took in a deep breath. It was too late to turn back now. "EDI, patch the quarians to the Normandy's weapons system. I want the targeting laser synced up to the whole damn fleet."

_Do you need assistance?_ Legion asked as Annie watched the Reaper slowly pull itself back onto its feet.

"Just stay down, Legion. I'll take it from here."

_Shepard-Commander…good luck._

"Acknowledged."

Legion drove off, taking Garrus and Tali to safety as the Reaper finally righted itself. She would get an earful from Liara after this but it had to be done. Liara knew that, everyone knew that. They couldn't walk away from this because it was too hard. Too much depended on this otherwise.

She aimed the riffle, watching the holographic map slowly focus in on her point as the Reaper gave a terrifying bang. Annie forced herself to focus, but her state of limbo wouldn't come. She rolled away as it was bombarded with rockets and energy pulses, making it stumble but continue to advance. Again Annie aimed, resulting in the same as before. But as she looked up for a third, as she waited for the laser to focus in on the Reaper Annie watched the machine sit mere feet from her face. She looked into the red light, seeing a glimpse of the young boy from Earth in the reflection before the final shot.

Annie walked slowly towards the knocked over Reaper, hopping onto a nearby rock to look down at the slowly fading light. "Shepard," it hummed as Annie lifted her chin.

"You know who I am?"

"Harbinger speaks of you. You resist. But you will fail. The cycle must continue."

"What are you even talking about? We stopped Sovereign and the geth. We stopped Harbinger and the Collectors. We've earned a straight answer."

"It's is not a thing you can comprehend."

"We might surprise you," Annie sneered, stepping closer to the edge.

"You represent chaos. We represent order. Every organic civilization must be harvested in order to bring order to the chaos. It is inevitable. Without our intervention, organics are doomed. We are your salvation."

"You're killing everyone in the galaxy to save us?" Garrus, Tali and Legion approached from behind but Annie wasn't finished with her conversation. She needed to know more, she needed to understand.

"The cycle must continue. There is no alternative."

"Organics and synthetics don't have to destroy each other!"

"The battle for Rannoch disproves your assertion. Finish your war. We will be waiting." The light then slowly faded into darkness as Annie found herself with even more questions than answers. The order to their chaos? It didn't make any sense. But sadly, the Reaper was right, she was still in the middle of the quarian and geth war, there was still unfinished business.


	87. Sacrificing for Peace

"We did it. We killed a Reaper. Keelah…" Tali breathed as she stepped up next to Annie, looking down at the dead synthetic below them

"We can confirm that the geth are no longer being directed by the Old Machines. We are free." Legion noted as Annie smiled, looking up at the sky only for unsettling news that fed into her ear.

_You did it, Shepard! The geth fleet has stopped firing. They're completely vulnerable!_ Admiral Gerrel cheered as Annie looked towards Tali and then back at Legion. There had to be something they could do.

"Shepard-Commander," Legion stated, almost hesitantly, "our upgrades." Annie didn't understand what it was getting at as she fully turned away from the dead Reaper. "With the Old Machine dead, we could upload them to all geth without sacrificing their independence"

"You want to upload the Reaper code? That would make the geth as smart as when the Reaper was controlling them!" Tali exclaimed, reaching up and itching slightly at the exposed skin on her neck.

"Yes, but with free will. Each geth unit would be a true intelligence. We would be alive, and we could help you," Legion explained as Tali shook her head, stepping towards Legion.

"Our fleet is already attacking! Uploading the code would destroy us! Annie, you can't choose the geth over my people!" Tali begged the commander as Annie looked towards Leigon. The geth had already started to implement the code; Legion had already made its choice.

"Do you remember the question that caused the creators to attack us, Tali'Zorah?" Legion asked, glancing away from its work as Tali hesitantly turned towards the geth. "'Does this unit have a soul?'"

"Tali, call off the fleet if you can," Annie remarked, the decision difficult to make. It wasn't against her friend, Tali had to understand that she wasn't doing this for the geth. She was doing it for both the quarians and the geth, for the positives that peace would include. This had to be done; it was the right thing to do.

Legion began to count off the progress of the upload as Tali tried frantically to convince the fleet. "This is Admiral TaliZorah. All units, break off your attack!"

_Belay that order! Continue the attack! _Admiral Gerrel commanded as Annie closed her eyes, clenching her fists. They had to back down or else the quarians would be destroyed.

Tali walked up to Legion, holding her hands together, "I beg you, do not do this. Please." Legion simply continued to count down, refusing to stop the process as Tali turned away, quickly caught in Garrus's comforting arms. Annie shook her head; she had had enough of this.

"No. Nobody else dies today. Legion, keep going," she pressed her fingers to her ear as Tali turned towards Annie, her breathing shaky. "All ships, this is Commander Shepard. The Reaper is dead. Stand down."

"This is Admiral Tali-Zorah. Commander Shepard speaks with my authority."

_And mine as well_, Admiral Koris added.

_Negative! We can win this war now! Keep firing!_ Admiral Gerrel forced as Annie gritted her teeth together.

"The geth are about to return to full strength. If you keep attacking, they'll wipe you out. Your entire history is you trying to kill the geth. You forced them to rebel. You forced them to ally with the Reapers. The geth don't want to fight you. If you can believe that for just one minute, this war will be over. You have a choice. Please. Keelah se'lai." Annie finished her speech, now just praying that the admirals agreed. Otherwise this entire mission would have been a waste.

_All units…hold fire,_ Annie and her team let out a loud sigh of relief. Tali stepped away from Garrus to wrap her arms tightly around Annie. But…that wasn't the end.

"Error," Legion stated, "copying code is insufficient. Direct personality dissemination required." It turned towards Annie as Tali pulled away to face the geth. "Shepard-Commander, I must go to them. I'm sorry. It's the only way." Its tone seemed sad as Annie realized what this meant. Legion would have to sacrifice himself for the betterment of its people.

"Legion," Tali breathed, stepping up to him as she rested her hand on his shoulder. "The answer to your question…was 'Yes.'"

"I know, Tali. But thank you. Keelah se'lai." All of a sudden the life in the geth disappeared as Legion fell to its knees and then onto its side. Annie found it impossible to move, simply looking down at the friend as tears trickled their way down her dirt-covered cheeks. There was a moment of silence for Legion. It was a hero, always had been. It was willing to give up everything for its people. Legion would be greatly missed by all.

Annie only turned her attention away from the geth when Admiral Raan approached them, looking injured but alive. She began questioning what they were supposed to do now, so many years fighting and now they weren't. Now they had to tend to their wounds and yet they were still lost.

Tali quickly raised her gun at an approaching juggernaut but slowly lowered it, as it was clear it wasn't hostile. "You are welcome to returned to Rannoch. Admiral Raan. With us."

"L-Legion?" Annie asked, stepping forward and getting the machine's attention. She couldn't help the desperate amount of hope she had that it would be her friend looking back at her. She wanted to believe that was possible.

"No. I'm sorry, Commander. Legion sacrificed itself to give us all intelligence. It will be honored." Annie bowed her head but with a small smile on her lips. It was something. Admiral Raan and the juggernaut then walked off to discuss more about settling on Rannoch. It was somewhat beautiful to see as Annie turned towards the ledge, watching Tali look out.

"Shopping for another house?" Garrus asked as he and Annie stepped up next to her.

"Beach front property."

"Claim it fast, it's a buyers marker," Annie teased as Tali gave a weak chuckle, looking down at her hands for a moment.

"I'm coming with you," Tali stated suddenly as Annie gave her a surprised looked.

"I wasn't going to ask," Annie breathed as Tali gave a soft sigh, glancing towards Garrus and then back out at the beautiful scenery before them.

"Sooner or later the Reapers are coming here, to Rannoch. So I'm coming with you to stop them. And as I look at all of this…this picture of hope and peace, all I see is everyone I've lost."

"I know what you mean," Garrus chuckled, but the laugh was filled with pain that Annie knew all too well. All of a sudden Tali reached up to her face and there was a soft hiss of her breathing mask disconnecting from her suit. Annie and Garrus started at the woman in amazement, surprised at the beauty that hid beneath the tinted glass. Her skin was grey but her eyes were wide and filled with curiosity.

"It'll be years before we can live without our suits completely," she announced before Annie caught Tali's fingers sliding between Garrus's. "But right now I have this…and now I have a home to fight for."


	88. Never Should Have Happened to Them

Annie stepped from the shuttle, surprised that there was no asari waiting for her return. Only Traynor with a datapad clutched her chest that was probably filled with things for Annie to take care of in the following days. How she dreaded that. "Traynor, where's Liara?" Annie asked, cutting off any sort of comment about the mission from the Specialist. She stuttered slightly, surprised by the question.

"Oh…um…she's in the comm-room, entertaining the asari councilor," Annie nodded, thanking her as she stepped into the elevator. Garrus and Tali seemed to linger some in the shuttle bay, talking about something in close proximity to one another. It was nice to see as the elevator doors closed and Annie trotted her way into the comm-room, getting an over the shoulder smile from Liara.

"Ah, Commander Shepard, I understand you've helped resolve the situation with the geth," the councilor remarked as Annie nodded.

"Yes, Councilor. Two, in fact," Annie added, attempting to hide the somewhat prideful smile begging to get out.

"I've read the reports. You ended a war three centuries in the making. We have isolated pockets of remaining geth. As best we can tell, they are geth bodies loaded with Reaper code. But they are just a tiny fragment of the full geth fleet. You've done the impossible, Commander. And I may be able to provide help of my own…" Annie could feel the 'but' coming along. And who could blame her? That was this entire war. She had yet been able to get support for the war without being presented with a giant man-eating catch. "I've received information from my government. It's too sensitive to discuss over an unsecured channel. I request that you come to the Citadel and we shall talk more." Annie nodded in agreement, the call ending as the commander finally felt like she could breathe.

"Joker, set route to the Citadel," Annie announced before turning, expecting to see Liara. But the woman had already started making her way back to the main part of the ship, forcing Annie to run after her. "Liara, wait," she grabbed the woman's wrist in the hallway between the war room and the security check. Annie half expected a lecture from the woman, in fact she sort of hoped for it. But instead Liara pulled her hand back, unable to turn to her lover.

"Not now, Annie. I have work to do, and so do you," she continued forward as Annie hesitated. What was going on? What had happened while she was helping Tali and her people? She wouldn't ignore it; she wouldn't "give the woman space." There was something wrong that Liara wasn't telling her.

"I said wait," Annie called again, bursting into the CIC and sliding into the elevator after Liara, the asari seeming to tense in the closed quarters. "Was it something I did? I know going up against the Reaper like that wasn't the best of ideas…"

"It wasn't anything you did," Liara interrupted, glancing towards Annie and it was the first time the commander noticed how red and swollen her eyes were. She'd been crying.

"Liara…" Annie reached up to touch her face but Liara turned away, stepping past Annie to get out of the elevator and make her way to her office. "You have to talk to me, Liara! Please," Annie begged, following after her, catching her office door as it began to close, the safety measures forcing them back open. "What happened?" She asked again, stepping into the office space and looking at Liara's back as the door closed behind her. But it was then Annie's gaze turned to the side, to the massive wall of screens Liara had had installed. On each an every one of them was a news broadcast, all showing a still image of the much larger video in the center. It was Thessia and it was burning.

"The Reapers attacked not long after we went to pick up the quarian Admirals," she breathed as Annie stepped forward, hesitantly resting her hand on Liara's shoulder.

"Liara…I'm so sorry. You should have told me…"

"Why?" Liara turned, her eyes glistening with a fresh batch of tears. "What could you have done, Annie? It would have distracted you and this alliance was too important to lose. I…I almost never believed it would happen to us," she admitted as Annie pulled her into a tight hug, turning her head to kiss Liara's neck.

"I understand," she whispered as Liara gripped Annie closer.

"I thought I understood how you and Garrus felt…watching the Reapers descend on your people. But I never did. We're a selfish people, Annie. I don't know what to do, Annie." Annie pulled away, tipping Liara's chin up and wiping away the tears gently from her cheeks.

"We're going to stop them, Liara. We're close to finishing the Crucible and then we're going to take back Earth and destroy every Reaper in our way. I won't let Thessia fall. You have my word," Annie promised as Liara gave a weak smile, reaching up to rest her hand against Annie's.

"I know you won't," she sniffled before glancing towards her blinking console and clearing her throat. "But until then, I have to organize my informants and help my people in any way I can." Annie smiled and nodded as Liara stepped away, stopping for a moment to look back at her lover. "I'm ready to fight this war with you, Annie. I'm ready to win."

"Good," Annie noted, giving a final glance at the viewing screens. Admittedly Annie was a little surprised as well. She'd been so focused on Earth and Palavin that she hadn't even considered Thessia as a concern. The asari had had more time than anyone to prepare and it looked like whether they had taken the time to or not…it hadn't done any good. Annie was starting to worry the Crucible wouldn't be what it was all cracked up to be. But as she could see it, it was their only hope for survival.


	89. Hoping to Save Them All

Annie knocked on the Asari Councilor's door, glancing around the hall as if waiting to be caught by someone. She'd never been in here before. Then again, she'd never had reason to. The Asari Councilor wasn't known for calling in many personal favors in Annie direction. Plus, Annie knew she wasn't the only Spectre on call for the Council's desires. There were plenty more than her and plenty more asari Spectres that she was sure the councilor trusted more than Annie. Ignoring the fact that the first human Spectre had saved her life three years ago.

The door pulled away to expose the office that was at least spatially similar to Udina's with a handful more asari touches here and there. The councilor was standing on the far side of the room, looking up at screens that showed the same videos that Liara's had. She could see how worried the woman was, but the moment the councilor turned towards the commander her expression had changed. There was nothing more than business on her mind.

"Commander Shepard, thank you for coming," she nodded as Annie stepped down towards the councilor.

"I'm sorry to hear about Thessia," Annie remarked as the councilor looked out the massive windows into the Citadel.

"The situation is becoming dire for my people," she glanced back at Annie as the commander took a few steps closer. "We're aware your Crucible is still missing a key component."

"The Catalyst," Annie responded. "Do you know something?"

"Not exactly," she pulled out her omni-tool, beginning to type things into it as she continued. "There is a…artifact on our homeworld, Thessia, known only to highest levels of my government." Good, she would be heading to Thessia. This time couldn't come any better. Maybe while down there she could some how help the asari with their situation. Annie could only hope.

"What is it?"

"With any luck, it's a means to help you locate the Catalyst," she pulled up stock images of Thessia on her omni-tool. "The artifact is kept in a temple located at these coordinates. I've ordered a scientific team to meet you." Annie had to admit she was a little curious what it was the asari felt needed to be hidden for so long. They were the most powerful species in the galaxy, or at least the most developed. If anything the asari were the closest in comparison to the Protheans. Maybe that's what they were protecting?

"I appreciate the help," Annie finally acknowledged, knowing very well Liara would want to know this information as soon as possible.

"It is you who are helping us. For the first time in our history, Thessia is vulnerable." As Annie thought about it, she realized the councilor was right. Any wars the asari fought in were waged strictly on the enemy's terrain. Thessia was always protected, always shielded from all of the violence out in the galaxy. Until now. "For all our intellect…we are no match for the Reaper's power."

"I'll do what I can," Annie promised.

"Whether you know it or not, you've become the sole ray of hope in a very dark night." It was a little more poetic than a lot of people had put it, but yes, Annie did know that. The councilor then stepped close, resting a surprisingly friendly hand on Annie's shoulder with a somber look in her eyes. "Goddess be with you."

Annie turned away from the councilor, making her quick way back to the Normandy. Liara needed to hear about this and she knew exactly who else to bring along with her. Javik. The Prothean might be a pain in the ass at times but out of anyone on the ship he knew the most about going up against Reapers. Or at least he had been there at the very end when fighting for his life truly mattered. And on a planet where the fighting had somewhat just begun, she needed that sort of experience by her side.

But as they boarded the shuttle Annie could see this was going to be a difficult mission for Liara. The woman was so caring and gentle that Annie knew it was be hard for the asari to ignore the pain of her people and put the artifact before that. She wasn't a soldier. Sometimes Annie forgot about that. Liara was just trained in a very specific set of skills, but she was still an archeologist and an information broker. A desk and a dig site still brought her more comfort than a battlefield. Annie knew Liara had to be here, but she just hoped that woman could also keep her head, as difficult as that might be.

"Liara," Annie called, making the asari's attention jump from the shuttle's viewing screen and over to the commander. "Do you have anymore information on this artifact?"

"These coordinates the councilor gave you are for the Temple of Athame. My mother took be there once. It's several thousand years old. And…for some reason, it has classified government funding."

"Certainly sounds like we're on the right trail," Annie remarked only to watch Liara hang her head in dismay.

"What if we're too late? My people are dying down there," her voice was a soft whisper as Annie rested her hand on her lover's shoulder for some comfort.

"Your empathy is a weakness," Javik hissed, "you must numb yourself to loss." The two women turned towards him with a frown. "I read your reports on your mother. She was indoctrinated." Liara turned her head away. The pair had been at one another's throats since his arrival, or more of Javik had been continuously upsetting Liara because he wouldn't say what she wanted. Because he wasn't what she hoped he would be.

"Yes," Liara breathed, "we had to kill her."

"Yet it did not stop you from fighting. As I said, steel yourself. Many more lives will be lost." It sounded like an attempt at comfort but Annie could tell Liara hadn't taken it that way as she turned her focus back to the viewing screen.

"We can't ignore the people that are dying. The Reapers may not have mercy, but we do," Annie snapped at him but the Prothean barely seemed phased.

"It is their indifference that gives them power."

COMMENTS: Sorry for the delay and for only having up one chapter. My exam week has started so I've been distracted and exhausted lately. I was hoping I'd get more done over the weekend...but that obviously didn't happen. Apologies again. Enjoy!


	90. They Had to Succeed

The door to the shuttle opened to expose the Thessia battlefield. Annie glanced towards Liara as she pulled out her riffle. The woman was having a hard time looking at it; she kept averting her gaze, trying to find things that looked like how Thessia had once been. Annie wanted to say something to comfort her, ease her worries. But they didn't have time for that as Cortez alerted to them that he couldn't stay still for much longer.

They ran into the small bit of refuge. It was a space that the asari commandos had set up behind a wall of debris and biotic barriers. Annie made her way towards the woman that looked to be in charge, eyes glancing towards Liara as her lover hesitated at one side of the bunker. On the ground was row after row of covered bodies. It was never a good sight to see…but in this war it was becoming more regular.

"You must be Commander Shepard," one of the commandos shouted over the gunfire. "We haven't-" the asari was cut off as a massive explosion sounded from the front of the barricade and the conversation was put on hold. Annie ran from the safety of the bunker, hurling a grenade as she jumped over the barricade and onto the bridge. The grenade smacked a brute in the face, startling it, as it looked down at the small contraption.

It exploded in its face and Annie and her team slammed wave after wave of bullets at the charging Reapers, forcing them back across the bridge. Annie slid back into the bunker, trying to calm her breathing as the commandos took stock of their remaining resources and firepower. They couldn't stay here. But Annie needed them to hold off the Reaper forces so that they could get up to the temple. Annie hated the idea of forcing these soldiers to stay and wait for their death. She could only hope they understood.

"Good timing, Commander," the asari commented after giving several orders to her soldiers. "I'm Lieutenant Kurin. We've been told to expect you. My orders are to hold this grid at all costs." Another wave of Reaper fire came down on the lone asari and her biotic barrier. The lieutenant ordered the other asari to plug up the hole, only making Annie more anxious towards her approaching request. "But out perimeter's collapsing and I'm getting my people out of here." The lieutenant walked back towards her remaining supplies as Annie gave a lingering look at the temple. They couldn't turn back now, there was too much at stake.

"This is important. We need your help," the lieutenant looked over the rows of bodies in the bunker, giving another order to a nearby soldier.

"Unless you can give me a good reason to stay, we're not dying for a field of rubble."

"I know what that's like, but you have to trust the chain of Command." Annie would have hated to hear the same words. She'd lived in situations like this where the survival of her people depended on the decisions of those that had never set foot on a battlefield. It was painful and difficult and Annie was lucky that she no longer had to follow such orders as a Spectre. But Kurin had to understand. They needed their support or Annie knew they would never make it to the temple.

"We're not even sure the chain still exists," the woman snapped, her attention turning back to the bodies. But it was then the woman seemed to feel something as she bowed her head, giving a frustrated sigh before turning back to Annie. "So what are we doing here?"

"We're after a relic inside the temple. It's important."

"That's what this is all about? One of our outposts has been trying to reach the scientists over there, but we lost contact." The lieutenant gave out several more orders, forcing a gunship back into the air before turning back. "I'm sorry, Commander. If your relic has survived this long it can wait a little longer. I've lost enough people today. I'm pulling the rest of them out."

"No!" Javik hissed out of nowhere, stepping up and gripping the lieutenant's shoulders, seeming to mind meld with the woman. "I sense you have the lineage of a leader. A warrior's skill and cunning – they are strong in you genes. But you've grown tired of war, you're exhausted by defeat, and now you worry you don't have the courage left to go on." For a moment Annie though he was talking to her as the lieutenant stumbled back in astonishment.

"By the goddess…are you?"

"Find you resolve," Javik continued. "This war can end if you do."

"We're building a Prothean superweapon," Annie added. "It will win this war." Saying those words out loud surprised Annie, because for once…she believed them.

"I believe it," the lieutenant breathed, switching between the commander and Javik. She pressed her fingers to her communicator, "This is Lieutenant Kurin! Hold you positions! I want a path carved to the temple! Outpost Tykis, we've got people coming your way!" She stepped by Annie and Javik, heading back towards the front of the bunker. "Let's make sure the galaxy knows the war was won on Thessia!"

The barricade was pulled away to give Annie and her team a place to move through before closing behind them. Annie took in a deep breath, looking up at the massive mountain they had to climb to get to a relic they could only hope was still there. "I was here years ago. To see the city burning like this is…" Liara breathed as Annie rested her hand on her lover's shoulder.

"It can be rebuilt," she promised as the woman gave a firm nod and the team moved forward into the army of Reapers.

COMMENTS: Sorry on the delay there. I lost interest in the game for a couple of days and needed to get back into it again. I've got a bunch more written up and plan to get started on the Citadel DLC soon. Enjoy!


	91. Fighting through the Burn

They headed across the bridge, making their way into a large courtyard filled with rubble and Reapers. There was gunfire from distant rooftops – what was left of the lieutenant's forces – getting shot down by Reaper fire as Liara shouted for them. "No!" She cried, ignoring the Reaper that was about to flank her. Annie shoved her out of the way, tossing a handful of fire at the monster before spinning and kicking it to the ground. She tackled the beast and sunk her omni-blade deep into its head before standing back to her feet.

Liara had her back to the wall, giving the every so often shot over the cover but it was half hearted and they might as well consider themselves down a man if she didn't pick up. "Liara," Annie breathed, gripping the woman's face. Liara was conflicted, unable to find an equal balance between grief and anger. "You need to focus."

"They're slaughtering my people!" She squeaked as a biotic explosion from Javik went off near their cover.

"I know, Liara. But they wouldn't want you to just give up," she whispered. "They need you to fight. We all do," Liara looked at Annie, resting her hand on her cheek before giving a small nod. The woman then stood from her place, body covered in a thick layer of biotic energy. She took out a nearby turian-Reaper before moving onto a husk, a pulse of dark matter making it explode into a million pieces.

Annie and Javik covered her as she charged forward, practically bowling into a pair of brutes. They roared and swung but Annie saw something in the woman she'd never expected before. Sure, Liara was flexible (that had been tested a number of ways), and Annie had given her a few hand-to-hand private lessons but it seemed Liara had expanded on that in her free time.

She threw a burst of stasis at one of the brutes, slowing it to a crawl as she narrowly avoided the other's swing. Liara gripped the beast's claw, using it as a pivot point to swing her legs up and around its neck. It roared, as she held tight to its horns, shoving them forward so it crashed into the other beast that was breaking out of its stasis state. The two toppled over and Liara stood to her feet, an orb of dark energy in between her hands, she slammed it into the two. Liara then tumbled away as they tried to get rid of the burning energy, the orb between them starting to swell. Drawing her pistol, Liara carefully aimed and fired, disrupting the orbs somewhat stable state and forcing it to explode.

The courtyard grew eerily silent as Liara stood several meters from the scolded spot, the brutes nowhere to be found. Annie trotted up, still surprised to see such…destruction. "When were you going to tell me about _that_?" Annie asked as Liara gave a tried chuckle and a shrug.

"I don't really know," Liara panted as Annie gave Liara's shoulder a comforting squeeze before pressing a rushed peck on the side of her head. If only they could linger some more, maybe take a tour of where Liara had grown up. But they couldn't. They had to get to that temple and soon…before all of Thessia was burnt to ashes.

Suddenly a bone-shattering screech came from the back of the courtyard and Annie could feel the confidence Liara had disappear. The Banshee came creeping from the top of a set of stairs. It was too good to be true to think destroying that one monastery would stop the Reapers from finding more unfortunate souls to transform. Annie hated it. She hated all of this. How dare they take her own people and turn them into monsters. How dare they take anyone's children for their own disgusting purposes.

Annie gritted her teeth together, reloading her riffle as she charged towards the creature, unloading into its head and chest. It teleported in her direction but Annie wasn't phased as she threw a handful of fire at it, stopping it in its approach to try and put itself out. Annie took the moment to run forward, slide between its long legs, and firmly kick the back of one of its knees. It shrieked and started to fall only for Annie to catch it by its mangled tentacles on the top of its head. She pulled its head back at an uncomfortable angle, seeing the blackness the reapers had forced into this once beautiful asari before pressing her rifle to its forehead and firing.

She was tired of this.

"I…I still can't believed those things exist," Liara admitted as she and Javik approached. Annie ran her forearm over her sweating brow, looking towards where they needed to go with a heavy huff.

"Well…they do," Annie said bluntly. "We can't linger any longer. We need to get to that outpost," Annie remarked as Liara and Javik nodded in agreement, following after the commander.

Annie tried to focus on the good side of this, on how what they were doing would end all of the fighting. She tried to imagine what Thessia would look like after they rebuilt. Each bench they passed by Annie imagined sitting on it with Liara. If they didn't succeed then Thessia's sacrifice would be four naught. There was no room for that; there was never any room for failure. And yet Annie couldn't fight the feeling that something about this mission was different than all of the others. Something about this mission just wasn't quite right.

They climbed up to what looked like the remainder of an outpost, a lone asari trying to fend off the medium-sized army of Reapers that was blocking their path to the temple's balconies. Annie and her team ran up to help, taking cover from a wave of uninterrupted fire. "We're looking for Outpost Tykis," Annie remarked to the asari.

"You're looking at it!"

"What about the rest of your squad?"

"They're all dead. We tried punching through to the scientists, but I'm all that's left." Annie frowned. She knew the feeling and the thoughts the woman probably had. Why was _she_ the one that had to survive? Why couldn't she die honorably with them?

"What about support?"

"We had gunships flying support, but things got too hot with that Reaper. They can't chance it." Annie looked up at the temple, being nicely guarded by said Reaper. She didn't like what she was about to ask.

"I know it's rough, but I don't see another way in without their help." The asari hesitated before shaking her head. Quickly she sent a request to the remaining few gunships as Annie readied her weapon. The gunships appeared, taking out a massive number of Reapers in their way only for a rachni-Reaper to turn and shoot one of the two ships out of the sky. Annie closed her eyes, bowing her head as the radio feed from the pilot was cut off the moment it exploded into the side of the temple. They couldn't wait any longer; they needed to get up to that temple, now.


	92. Discovering Their Greatest Secret

It seemed never ending. With each step forward they took it seemed like the Reapers increased in numbers by ten. Annie just wanted to get inside, to be able to shut out all of the explosions and gunfire and get that relic. But the Reapers weren't making it easy on her as they threw a pair of harvesters at the team, forcing them behind cover. The gunship was shot down after taking out one of them but that still left the second harvester for a group of people half its size. Not to mention they were still being fired at by other Reaper forces. She couldn't keep hiding back here.

"Javik, pass me one of your grenades!" She shouted to the Prothean as the soldier nodded. He plucked the special biotic device form his belt and carefully slid it across the ground as Annie took out one of hers.

"What are you trying to do?" Liara asked, as Annie pressed the biotic grenade to the sticky siding that was on hers.

"Clear a path. Now cover me," she ordered as Liara nodded, the two women curling around the cover as the asari fired into the crowd. Annie took in a deep breath, focusing on the glowing circle in the center of the harvester as she pulled the clips to both grenades. This would have to work.

She chucked it as hard as she could, flinging it across the balcony as it collided with the circle and stuck. Annie ducked down, pulling Liara with her as the combined grenades detonated. Her grenade exploded inside the harvester, making unusable as the biotic grenade sent out a massive biotic pulse. It surged by their cover but did nothing to Annie and her team except give them a cooling breeze. Annie stood from the cover, Javik quick to take out the few "lucky" Reapers that had survived the massive explosion.

Their path to the temple was finally clear.

Fortunately, military-grade barriers protected the temple. Which was certainly odd. Military and religion weren't exactly known to collide in most if any cultures. But Annie decided to just take it as another sign that they were on the right track.

Liara brought the barriers down and Annie and her team made their way in. Only then they discovered why the scientists hadn't reported in. Their bodies decorated the front of the temple on the floor and the pews. Annie didn't think the Reapers had gotten in here and as they took a closer look, Annie discovered her uneasy feelings about this mission had been right. "They've been slit. Reapers didn't do this," Liara commented as Annie gave a slow nod. Maybe whoever was here left empty handed…and if not then they needed to hurry.

She stepped up to the altar, looking at the massive statue above it, "Who is that?" Annie asked as Liara stepped next to her.

"She is the great Goddess Athame," Liara answered.

"Then why does she speak Prothean?" Javik asked, startling both the women as they turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?"

"There's something here," he commented, "I can feel it." Liara then started to go off on one of her lectures about her people and Athame. But admittedly Annie wasn't listening as she found something calling to her, drawing her to the altar as she reached out. Gently her fingers brushed against the smooth surface, feeling it vibrate as if trying to speak to her. It was a familiar feeling. And then it came to her.

"There's a Prothean beacon in here," she announced, surprising Liara.

"What? You're sure?"

"It's not a feeling you forget easily," Annie remarked, turning towards her teammates as Liara bowed her head in thought.

"But why hide it?"

"The answer is obvious," Javik stated casually. "Power and influence. Your people are hoarding the knowledge of my race for their own gain."

"That…can't be," Liara stuttered, shaking her head. Annie had to admit it made sense. The asari were the rulers of the galaxy in a general sense. They always seemed to have the answer to everything…and now it seemed this was the reason why. "I can't believe my people would keep this a secret."

"Only a small fragment would be needed to make immense progress," Liara turned away from him as the Prothean crossed his arms. "Or are you simply upset your government did not choose to include you?" There was more silence from Liara, admittedly Annie couldn't help but accept that Javik was right.

"Well the asari should have shared this knowledge," Annie huffed. "Maybe if they did we wouldn't be in this mess."

"You don't know that, Annie," Liara begged, still seeming to try and find some reason as to why her people would do this. "We don't know what's going on here."

"I know we don't have much time to find out. Javik, do you think you can do anything to help?" Javik nodded, glancing towards one of the many artifacts on display as he stepped towards it. Gently he placed his fingers against it, his Prothean DNA seeming to "unlock" whatever technology was being held inside. A beam of some sort flowed from the artifact to the statue of the goddess in the center as Javik continued with three more artifacts.

Suddenly the statue crumbled away to expose the beacon. Annie stepped forward only to watch as a swirling and glowing green ball floated from the beacon down to sit between the three of them. Quickly Annie realized it was another Prothean VI, like the one she had met on Ilos when they were chasing Saren. It started to spin about the room, taking note of its surroundings before confirming that it was to head back into the beacon.

"Hold on!" Annie shouted, "We need answers."

_To what questions? _ It asked, floating close to Annie's face as if inspecting her in the process.

"The catalyst. We need to know what it is to finish the Crucible. Why didn't you deploy it?" The ball then shifted into the memory of a Prothean, slowly pacing between the three of them.

_We were sabotaged from within. A splinter group argued we should dominate the Reapers rather than destroy them._ Annie had to admit she was surprised to hear that the Protheans had also had troubles with a Cerberus-like group. Maybe they really weren't that different than the other cycles. _It fractured our order of battle. Later, we discovered the separatists were indoctrinated._ The VI then continued to go on explaining the surprisingly predictable patterns throughout each cycle. It seemed the Reapers weren't the only repetition in their galaxy. They were all following under some other power, some other master of sorts.

"There's still hope for this cycle. We need to know what the Catalyst is. Trillions of lives are at risk." Annie begged as the VI stepped towards her.

_There are always trillions at risk. With the Reapers arrival this cycle is already at its end._ Annie shook her head, refusing to believe it. They'd come too far to hear that from some computer.

"We can break the cycle! We found your plans for the Crucible – we're building it right now!"

_The Crucible is not of Prothean design. It is the work of countless galactic cycles stretching back millions of years. Each cycle adds to it. Each improves upon it. Thus far, none have successfully defeated the Reapers with it._

"Then we'll be the first," Annie said defiantly. "Tell us what the Catalyst is," she asked again, getting annoyed with this program. It was avoiding her questions and they didn't have time for it.

_Very well. If you have followed the plans for the Crucible, I will interface with your systems and assist with the Catalyst to-_ It stopped, turning to glance over its shoulder. _Indoctrinated presence detected. Activating security protocol. _


	93. Defeated

Annie shielded her eyes from the sudden bright light as the VI returned to its orb shape and floated back towards the altar. Slowly her vision adjusted, exposing the silhouette of a man before slowly filling in the details. But she knew who it was. Kai Leng. "You," she sneered, Annie and her team pulling out their pistols and aiming them at the assassin. "You kill the scientists. What do you want?"

"Your attention. Someone would like to talk to you." He pulled out a device, letting it float into the air as he stepped away. Slowly the life-sized hologram of the Illusive Man appeared in front of her.

_Shepard,_ he greeted, but Annie was in no mood for pleasantries.

"How did you find this place?"

_The Archives. Or did your Shadow Broker miss that one? _Liara took an angry step forward as Annie stuck her arm out, holding the woman back. The Illusive Man only smirked, _Stick to your talents, Dr. T'Soni. You've helped uncover the key to subjugating the Reapers._ He stepped by them and towards the floating orb as Annie frowned.

"Or destroying them," she corrected as he turned back towards her.

_Dammit, Shepard. Destroying the Reapers gains us nothing_.

"How about peace?" She responded in a condescending tone. The man took in a deep breath, starting to pace before responding.

_They're just trying to control us. Think about it: if they wanted all organic life destroyed, they could do it. There would be nothing left._

"What the hell are you talking about?"

_I know them, Shepard. I know how they think_. Annie gave a hard laugh, unable to hold back her disbelief. He was crazy, completely and utterly crazy.

"I _think_ you've gotten a little too close to the enemy."

_No,_ he shook his head, but his response was hesitant, as if suddenly realizing there was a flaw in his plans. _I'm saying they've got it right. Why kill when you can control?_

"You don't get it, do you? You've been spending too much time with the enemy. They're dragging you over to their side – their way of thinking," Annie tried to explain to the lunatic.

_No, I just…see things differently._

"If you truly care about humanity, you'll stop fighting me. You'll join me." All of a suddenly the man seemed back to his normal self, as if he'd had the lunacy slapped back into him. What was going on in that head of his? Annie didn't think it was just holding the Illusive Man's thoughts anymore.

_Don't ever question my intentions. I've sacrificed more for humanity that you'll ever know. And don't assume you know me. My methods for dealing with the Reapers are simply more refined than yours._

"More refined? This isn't a war of class. This is a war of survival! You've forgotten everything you stood for! Cerberus was supposed to be humanity's sword, not a dagger in our back."

_Poetic, but as usual, you miss the point. The world is more grey than you care to admit._ Annie tightened her hand into a fist, how much she wished she could get her hands on him.

"With the Prothean data in this beacon, I can end this conflict, once and for all! You're either with me or against me. There's nothing grey about that!"

_No, I suppose there isn't,_ he turned away, walking down the aisle back towards the door. _Leng, the Commander has something I need. Please, relieve her of it._ Annie tensed, quickly pulling her pistol back out as she turned towards the assassin. _And then bring me the data_.

"Understood," he caught the device the Illusive Man's hologram had been projecting from, tucking it back in his pocket as he readied himself. At least Annie could finally deal with this son of a bitch.

But being Cerberus, he didn't play fair. Every time Annie and her team laid into the man's shields he would call up the gunship to protect him while he waited for them to recharge. Annie couldn't keep doing this; she was going to run out of ammo. So the next time he called up his fancy gunship she charged towards him. But he was ready. He deflected her punch and gave his own kick as Annie rolled out of the way. She attacked again, but this time he turned her around, slicing his sword at her black and Annie could feel the metal cutting through her armor and into her skin. Annie gritted her teeth, flinging her body forward to land on her hands. She swung her legs around, colliding with the side of his head as he stumbled away and Annie landed back onto her feet. Kai Leng ran his fingers against his lip, staring at the blood before giving an annoyed growl.

Biotic energy surged around him as he kicked forward, breaking Annie's defenses and launching her back down the aisle towards the altar. Annie coughed, trying to regain the air in her lungs as Kai Leng charged forward. Liara stepped in his way but he wouldn't have it as he tossed her casually into Javik, knocking both of them out of reach as Annie raised her gun. "Fire at the supports," he ordered the gunship.

Immediately rockets started flying through the temple, colliding with columns and beams as Annie tried to scramble out of the way. Kai Leng simply stepped towards the altar as if nothing was happening. One column fell towards where Annie was standing, forcing her to jump out of the way as her gun was throw across the room. Suddenly the ground around her started to crumble and Annie tried to scale her way towards the ledge, but it was coming down too fast as she slid down the long fall.

But Annie wasn't done. She pushed herself, throwing her body from the plummeting floor and was just barely able to grab onto a hanging piece of floor, the side jagged enough to give her handholds. Slowly she climbed up, her arms screaming for it to be over as dust stung in her eyes and the cut on her back. Meanwhile Kai Leng had started to collect the information from the beacon. She used every last bit of energy she could to get up to the ledge, slowly starting to push herself onto solid ground. Suddenly her ladder crumbled under her feet and she fell back, barely able to hold on as her grip started to slip.

"Hold on, Annie," Liara shouted, diving for her out stretched arm and pulling her back into the temple. But Annie didn't have time to for thanks. She had to stop Kai Leng as she grabbed her discarded gun and chased after the ascending gunship, firing wilding in hopes of a lucky shot.

But no such luck came as she looked out over the burning city on Thessia. Radio chatter from the distant bunker filled her ears as Liara and Javik made their ways towards her. They watched as Reapers descended onto the advanced city and listened as the great asari people crumbled under their force. Annie had failed. She had made their sacrifice worth nothing. And she'd broken her promise to Liara. Thessia was dying.


	94. The Words Come Out

Annie wasn't in the best of moods as they returned to the Normandy. No one was. Everyone was quiet, unsure what to say or what to do. After what had happened on Rannoch they had the foolish idea that everything was doing to turn out so well. That they couldn't fail. But as Annie stood in the comm-room, staring at the blinking light to show the asari councilor was waiting for her, Annie felt like everything she'd done was a sham.

_Commander?_

"Councilor…the mission-"

_We've lost all contact with Thessia…the planet has gone dark_. Annie closed her eyes, the words feeling like someone was shoving a dagger into her stomach and twisting it. _How soon will the Crucible be ready to deploy?_

"Councilor…I wish the news was better. We didn't get the information." There was a pause from the other end.

_What happened?_

"Cerberus. We were…defeated," the word tasted like poison. No, worse than that. "We don't know how to finish the Crucible." The councilor bowed her head, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked like she was attempting to process everything.

_I…don't know what to say. What was the situation on Thessia?_

"Deteriorating fast. The Reapers are there in strength."

_Then you'll excuse me. There are…preparations to make…continuity of civilization to consider. I never thought this day would come._ The call ended abruptly as Annie sighed.

"I'm sorry."

Annie stepped from the comm-room, the majority of her team standing around the war console. EDI informed her that the system they were in was no longer safe and Annie ordered her to get them out of there. Annie stepped next to Liara, the pair of them quiet, "Nobody…could've predicated Cerberus would reach Thessia before us."

"No, it's my job to be prepared – no matter what," Annie muttered, shaking her head. "And because I didn't do my job, now Thessia is lost, as is the data on the Catalyst." She gritted her teeth, a burst of frustration making her slam her fist down on the console. The image in the center of Thessia being attacked shuddered for a moment. "I'm sick of Cerberus beating us to the punch."

"Let's kick them in the balls for a change," James said bluntly and for once Annie couldn't have put it better herself.

"I'm with James. Any idea where they're hiding?" Annie looked around the room before focusing in as EDI and Traynor gave one another a look.

"Um…well, there is something," Traynor started.

"Let's hear it, Traynor."

"I was able to track Kai Leng's shuttle through the relay and extrapolate his destination. But…the signal disappeared in the Iera system." She explained, showing it on a map of the galaxy on the war console. "It's not just gone, though. The signal is being actively blocked."

"How?"

"I'm not sure, but something is interfering with all signal activity in that region of space."

"Commander," EDI started to add to the conversation. "The Iera system is home to Sanctuary and little else. Sanctuary is a supposed safe haven for war refugees."

"You think it's worth a look, Traynor?" Annie asked as the Specialist nodded her head. "Good, you've given us a shot. Now let's make sure we don't waste it."

"It's a slim lead," Liara muttered, "let's hope it's the right one."

"I don't give a damn how slim the leads are at this point," Annie snapped at the group. "We've come too far to let Cerberus stop us. I want that Prothean data. I want the Catalyst. No excuses." The group nodded and dispersed as Annie continued to stare at the galactic map. She couldn't take this anymore…everything just felt like it was going down hill and dragging her face on the ground while it was at it.

But she had something to do. She had to talk to Liara; she had to make sure the woman was all right. And yet as she knocked on the door, Glyph informed her that Liara had gone down to visit Javik. Annie knew it wasn't going to be the best of conversations and probably one she would need to get involved in.

Just as she expected, the moment she stepped foot in the room she was bombarded with an intense argument between the two. "That's not true! We earned our place in the galaxy!" Liara shouted.

"Stop denying reality, asari. Your people took the knowledge of my people from the beacon," Javik countered as the hint of biotic energy started to smoke from Liara's skin.

"I have a name. It's Lira T'Soni. And I'd appreciate you using from now on!"

"Hey now," Annie announced, grabbing Liara's bicep before she decided to blow a hole in the Normandy. "Let's calm down."

"My home was just destroyed…and all he can do is gloat!" Liara snapped.

"Given what's happened today, I think you owe Liara an apology, Javik," Annie responded firmly. She felt like she was dealing with two bickering children.

"Apologize for the truth?" He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"For not doing more! You're a Prothean! You were supposed to have all the answers! How could you not stop this from happening!" Liara squeaked, her voice quivering.

"We believed you would. Long ago we saw the potential in your people. Even then it was obvious: the wisdom. The patience. You were the best hope for the cycle. So you were…guided, when necessary," Javik explained as Liara slowly started to cool down.

"Well…it didn't work," she muttered, bowing her head.

"You're still alive aren't you? Your world may have fallen, but as long as even one asari is left standing, the fight isn't over. Despair is the enemy's greatest weapon. Do not let them wield it…Liara T'Soni." Liara looked up, a hint of a smile on her still mourning features before she excused herself from the room.

"That was…unexpected. Thank you," Annie remarked once Liara was out of the room.

"We still need her talents. If grief overcomes her, she will be lost to us."

"So…did you actually mean what you said?" Annie asked, stepping closer as the Prothean gave a small sigh and a shrug.

"Does it matter?"

"Liara means a great deal to me. It matters."

"Then I will tell you what you want to hear: I meant what I said." It wasn't as satisfying as it could have been. Annie hated how emotionless the Prothean was, but at least he was consistent.


	95. Family First

Unfortunately, that still meant she had to have her private conversation with Liara.

She stepped up to the woman's office door, knocking gently on it, but heard no response. Annie looked around, catching a glance from Tali as the quarian made a gesture to tell Annie to go ahead in. She nodded slowly, opening the metal doors and immediately greeted by the soft sniffles of her lover in the back of the office space.

Liara was sitting on her bed, pictures scattered around her, "I've studied the Protheans my entire life. If I'd been shown the beacon on Thessia earlier…" she trailed off, her voice breaking again as Annie sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. The commander gently reached over and embraced the woman, trying to still her trembling body. "How did this happen, Annie? My entire civilization, the asari's history…the Protheans made it a lie all along. And I abandoned my people to hunt for the Catalyst!"

"Hey, you'd never do that," Annie breathed, rubbing her lover's back in an attempt to comfort her.

"They're dying by the millions!" She hissed, looking up and shrugging out of Annie's hold. "I told those people on Thessia we'd save them! You promised we'd save them! How many asari died because I demanded their help?" Annie gripped the woman's face, wiping away the tears on her cheeks as she shook her head wildly.

"Absolutely none."

"Annie, that isn't true."

"You've been warning your people for four years, Liara. There's not a damn thing you should feel guilty about. I'm sorry…we lost Thessia, but we haven't lost the asari." Liara gave a hint of a smile before wrapping her arms tightly around the commander. They sat there for a moment, and then another, before Annie slowly pulled away, gently gripping Liara's chin. "Why don't we both try something a little…happier?"

An hour or so passed as they collapsed next to each other on their backs, satisfied grins on both of their faces. There was a sad feeling still in the room, the lingering reminder of what had happened not too long ago. But right now both women chose to focus on the other instead.

Annie toyed with her necklace, Liara's fingers sliding along the muscular divots on Annie's stomach. "Did you know that I'm an aunt?" Annie asked out of the blue as Liara rolled onto her side, propping her head up on her elbow.

"Oh that's right, Peter has children. I always thought that was a curious name for related humans to call one another," Annie chuckled, turning her head to face Liara but remaining on her back.

"Well you're an aunt too, you know." Liara paused, seemingly confused by the remark. Annie's hand fell from her necklace, wrapping around Liara's hand that rested on her belly. "Liara…after everything that's been happening with Thessia…and Earth, I've had a bit of a realization." Her eyes turned back up to the ceiling, fingers sliding around Liara's and feeling the soft skin as Liara shifted to rest her body on Annie's side, head on her shoulder. "It wasn't very hard to fall in love with you," she confessed, dropping the arm she had behind her head to wrap around Liara. "But I couldn't ever think much towards our future…like I was worried something might happen again."

"I love you too, Annie…but I don't know if I understand what you're trying to say." Annie sighed, surprised at how difficult the words suddenly were for her to find.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Liara. It's going to certainly be an interesting one with how both of our lives work, even after this war…but I want it so much." Annie tilted Liara's chin up, looking down at the woman's curious big violet eyes. "Liara T'Soni, will you marry me?" It was probably a foolish question to ask an asari but Annie didn't care. It mattered to her, to have something concrete in this world of destruction and pain. Liara smiled, leaning up to give a delicate peck on Annie's lips.

"If you want to," Liara chuckled, "I've certainly always been curious about human weddings." Annie gave a small laugh and a shake of her head, plopping it back down on the pillow.

"And then…we can find a house together, and have lots of little blue babies, and a dog."

"A dog? I'm not sure I want a varren walking around our house." Annie smirked.

"No, I mean a real dog, something big…I don't know. I just want it all with you." Liara nodded against Annie shoulder, thumb moving gently over the back of Annie's hand.

"You know, I never really understood how human relationships worked. For asari it's all about the mental and emotional connection eventually leading to necessary procreation. I didn't want to have children for that reason; I didn't want it to be a necessity. That's one of the reason so few asari have more than one child. They procreate and then continue living their life, with or without their bond mate." She glanced up at Annie with a coy smile, "But you humans never do it for evolution, you do it because you love the other person. You create families." Liara took in a deep breath, "Annie, when this is all over…I want to start a family with you. Though we'll have to talk about the dog," she commented as Annie laughed, the pair rolling over to give the bed a bit more use before they had to return to the war.

It would be a promise, though. After all of this Liara and Annie would begin something they'd always wanted. Family would finally come first, whether the galaxy needed their help or not.


	96. The Sanctuary

Annie climbed aboard the shuttle, finally ready to get the jump on Cerberus. She was ready to beat them so she could finally focus fully on this war. Turning towards the door she held out her hand to the beautiful asari as Liara smirked, taking the gesture and stepping into the vehicle. Things felt a little more normal between them. Finally she felt like all of the bullshit had cleared away. Or at least they'd come to realize that it didn't matter on the whole. They knew the other one would be right there standing next to them and holding their hand, always and forever.

"What do we know, Shep?" Garrus asked once the shuttle was underway.

_The Sanctuary facility was devoted to aiding refugees from Reaper-controlled systems. The facility went offline recently, and no communications have come or gone since. It is unclear why Kai Leng or Cerberus would be interested in Sanctuary._ EDI answered for her, which Annie was fine with at this point. The AI always knew she was going to be called on in situations like this. She was just glad that EDI put so much effort into it all. Sure, she was programmed that way…but at the same time it didn't need to be done.

"If there's a clue to Cerberus here, then we;ll find it," Annie responded as her team nodded.

"Ma'am, I'm picking up a signal from the facility. It's weak, but I'll try to boost it," Cortez announced as Annie stepped away from the main section of the shuttle and into the cockpit.

_This is Oriana Lawson. Stay away from Sanctuary. It's not what it seems. Please, you must listen to me! They're using…_ The signal cut off after that as Annie blinked in surprise.

"Oriana? That's Miranda's sister," the coincidence was unnerving. Miranda would be here and it only made Annie wonder more as to what Cerberus was doing here.

They descended into the landing zone, the whole courtyard in shambles. It looked like a bomb had gone off…but even then there were no bodies. Annie didn't like it as she readied her riffle and gestured to her team to follow. "We're not letting Cerberus get the jump on us this time," Annie swore as Garrus chuckled, slapping his hand on her shoulder.

"Shep, if we do I'll personally offer myself to the Reapers as an Appetizer."

"I don't think the Reapers actually _eat_ those they capture…" Liara remarked as Annie leaned close to her lover with a mischievous grin.

"I dunno, they might with Garrus. A little birdie told me he was quite scrumptious." Garrus simply grumbled, taking point as Liara gave a small giggle before the two women jogged to catch up.

But not even two steps further and they were met with the first of what would probably be many Cerberus troops. They hid in the balconies as Garrus did his best to pick them off and taunt Annie all the while. He was an ass at times, but Annie couldn't ignore how much she enjoyed competing with him. Garrus was a lot like her brothers. Hard and serious when needed, but supportive and gentle the rest of the time. Annie never regretted bringing him aboard all those years ago. And considering the fact that he'd come back after every impossible mission…she knew he didn't either.

And once they finally walked through the doors, things looked even less promising. Overhead Cerberus shuttles were continuously pulling away from the facility. The indoor office space was also in tatters and again…completely empty of all people. What the hell was this place? There was no possible way they were organized enough to process the millions that had traveled here this quickly. What was going on?

They came around the corner, the floor littered with both Reapers and Cerberus troops, the few remaining firing at Annie and her team. But they were survivors and thus didn't put up much of a challenge as Annie continued through the large space; heading into was looking like a back room. In which they finally seemed to find some much needed answers.

An information console fizzed and stuttered in front of them but Annie could hear a familiar voice in all of the static, Miranda's. She pressed a few keys; most of these systems having a basic "restart" sequence of sorts that would play back the original last recording. Immediately stock photos of different parts of the Sanctuary started to cycle through as Miranda began to speak. _This is Miranda Lawson. If you managed to get this far, you must be desperate or stupid. _Yup, it was Miranda, no doubt about that now even without the introduction. _Listen to me. This is not a refugee camp. This is a Cerberus facility run by my father, Henry Lawson. Turn back now. There is no help to be found here – all communication is being blocked from the central tower. Sanctuary is a lie. Stay away._ The screen then returned to its static and unsettling state as Annie turned back towards her team.

"Okay. So, we've got Cerberus, Reapers, and Miranda's crazy father. Any ideas how this all fits?" Annie asked, looking at the two as Liara and Garrus gave one another an unsure glance. But Annie knew they didn't know the answer as she shook her head, simply signaling them to go ahead and continue onwards instead. That tower was their next destination.

They stepped from the small room and into one of the areas the stock photos had shown. It was covered in greenery with a massive pool in the center, pipes and other ventilation streaming from it. Garrus stepped towards a nearby security panel, turning it off and immediately the water in the pool started to drain. Annie smirked, watching the secrets of the Sanctuary appear before their very eyes. "I say we found the fox hole," Annie remarked as Liara and Garrus gave one another a confused look.

"What does a fox have to do with a backdoor to the facility?" Liara asked as Annie opened her mouth to respond before giving a huff and a shake of her head.

"Nothing…let's just keep moving." They headed through the doors and immediately were greeted by the makings of a Cerberus facility. There were no more fancy green shrubs or open courtyards. It all looked like a lab. Annie shuddered, remembering waking up in one of these. They would never sit right with her. Then again, if they found what Annie was hoping for, after this mission she would never have to step foot on another Cerberus facility again.

COMMENTS: I really can't wait to get into the DLC. I've already started to tear up with the few final missions coming up. It'll be *sniffle* beautiful.


	97. Entering the Facility

They entered what looked like a commander center, screens surrounding a single console as Annie turned it on. Immediately the last recording began to play around them, showing the Cerberus scientists shove innocent refugees into testing pods. They were then filled with some sort of gas that Annie couldn't imagine felt very pleasant, before the refugees slowly started to change…into husks. Annie felt sick, fully disgusted by what she was looking at. The Illusive Man and Miranda's father were creating the very monsters Annie was trying to destroy.

She turned away, holding her hand over her mouth as she gripped her stomach. Slowly she breathed in, closing her eyes and waiting for the sensation to pass before opening them again. "Annie?" Liara asked as Garrus headed towards another control console, flipping it on. Annie simply waved off the concern, forcing a smile as she stepped towards the windows and watched the warehouse space below light up. It exposed dozens of husks as they scattered and crawled towards the windows. Why did Cerberus always have to stick their fingers in things they didn't understand?

"Let's keep moving," she muttered, reloading her riffle and gesturing to the door at the far end of the room as her team nodded. But the moment they exited the room they entered another with a similar fizzling console as before. Again Miranda appeared on the screen, though she was much more panicked as they typed away on a computer in front of the camera.

_Reaper forces have made a mess of the facility. I'm shutting down the power to the processing plant to lock them down._ Lovely, and Annie and her team had just undone those security measures. Sometimes Annie believed people placed these things in these areas just to rub her face in her poor life choices. _It should keep them out of the entrance as well._ But as the video ended another one started, this time showing Kai Leng entering the facility. Annie hoped her warning to Miranda would be enough. She was worried she wouldn't have a chance to catch up to them. Especially as the far door was forced opened. Annie and her team were then forced to take out a horde of refugee-husks.

"Keep moving!" Annie shouted as her team surged forward. But the moment the door opened Annie felt the life drain from her face.

A banshee stared at Annie, almost out of curiosity before reaching over and plucking the commander from her place. Annie was frozen, paralyzed by what she was staring at as the monster's disgusting claws pulled at her head, tilting it back. She needed to move, to do something, but she couldn't. And then suddenly the banshee's face seemed frozen, now confused, before it blew up and Annie was launched from her place and into a desk.

Annie blinked, wiping off the banshee that had now been transferred onto her body as Garrus smiled, having stood just behind the asari-Reaper. He held up one of his proximity mines as Annie smirked. "You think you could've made a little bit of a smaller mess?" Annie jested, making a face as she pulled what looked like the end of a tentacle off her collarbone.

"Since when were you such a girl?" Garrus retorted as Annie carefully aimed the next piece of banshee so it landed on his arm.

"Since I no longer had to be your wingman, captain awkward."

With the teasing over, the team continued onwards, coming upon another terminal. This time the damage was a little more severe, forcing Annie to rub a little elbow grease into the wires before it shuddered back to life and played yet another one of Miranda's messages. _Heading to the tower to disable the communication scrambler. I have to get word out. Some refugees are turned into husks. Some are indoctrinated and shipped to the Illusive Man. Whoever's left is used in experiments. The data indicates that my father is trying to figure out how Reaper indoctrination works._

"Tricking refugees with food and shelter only to turn them into test subjects. And for what?" Annie scoffed, shaking her head.

"Bring them in and toss 'em into the meat grinder," Garrus grunted, leaning back on a nearby wall.

"Note that she mentioned shipping indoctrinated refugees to the Illusive Man. We can use that to find him," Liara added as Annie nodded.

"Good catch," Annie nodded as Liara smiled.

"I've learned a lot about being the Shadow Broker. And one thing I've noticed is that few people are as careful as they need to be with their shipping information." Well…at least she was learning things, rather than just killing people.

They headed into the next room, an army of Reapers waiting for them as Annie and her team took them out. But it was then the commander realized where they were. They were in the testing room that the shown on the screens at the front of the facility. The remaining husks in the pods were dead and one of them even looked like it was still transitioning between being a human and a monsters. And it was then Annie found it suddenly and surprisingly impossible to hold her lunch.

She turned away, gripping the wall as she vomited into the corner, coughing and wiping at her mouth as Liara gently rubbed at her back. There was just something about that that reminded Annie what it felt like to wake up on the surgery table. How close was Cerberus' technology at that time? Could they have indoctrinated her? Turned her into a husk if they wanted to? She shook her head, sniffling and nodding her head to assure herself she was going to be all right.

"Remind me to brush my teeth when we get back on the Normandy."

"No problem, the last thing I want to do is kiss you, Shep." Garrus teased as Annie stuck her tongue out at him. They were children, that was the best way to put it. They were just big children that had been forced to hold onto these big responsibilities. So maybe they acted a little foolish and unprofessional at times. But it was things like that that reminded Annie that she was different from Cerberus. That she still cared and lived the life she wanted to live. Not one that was controlled by a mad man in a box.


	98. Finally Catching a Break

It was then Liara started up another console, and from the looks of it Annie had the feeling it would be the last from Miranda till they met face-to-face. They would meet face-to-face. _Heavy resistance outside the tower! If you're receiving this, I'm got evidence you can't ignore. Confirmation that my father is working for the Illusive Man._ Miranda then exposed a video of her father talking to the Illusive Man about the projects. They were completely insane, talking about controlling the Reapers and their forces with a singular device. Sure, that sounded like a good idea…but Annie had a bad feeling that it wouldn't end there for the Illusive Man. On the surface that seemed like a good answer, but it wasn't permanent and left a lot of room for things to go wrong.

And then it switched over to a much more recent security video of Miranda finishing up something in a lab space. She was rushed, constantly looking over her shoulder only then to be attacked by Kai Leng. The video ended there and Annie just hoped she was ready for the man. She had to be if she wanted to save her sister and stop her father once and for all.

After defeating what felt like an entire army made up solely of brutes and banshees, they were finally able to board the elevator that would take them up to the tower. Annie had what she needed. They had a way to find the Illusive Man. But now Annie was doing this for Miranda and for the fact that her father was a sick son of a bitch that needed to pay for what he'd done. He'd fed off of innocent people's fears. He'd used them for his own personal gain. No manner of excuse could make her believe otherwise.

They entered the room, guns raised as Miranda turned towards them, hiding behind a desk. Relief rushed over her exhausted features. The only other time she'd seen Miranda like this was after they had defeated the Collectors and Annie had a feeling if they'd waited any longer Miranda might've been in more trouble than she already was. "Commander Shepard. Excellent timing," Henry Lawson announced on the opposite end of the room. He grabbed Oriana and pulled her close, pistol aimed at them as Annie slowly approached. Oriana was the goal at this point. Getting her out of her father's bloody hands was all she wanted.

"Put the gun down. You could hurt yourself," Annie sneered.

"No, Oriana tried to shoot me. Miranda's poisonous influence, no doubt."

"I'm sorry she missed," Annie smirked, stopping a few meters from the pair. "Where's Kai Leng?" The last thing she needed at this point was the assassin popping out of nowhere and once again ruining her mission.

"I don't know. Gone. He took my research and left us here to die," Miranda started to shift forward and immediately Henry aimed his gun on her. "That's far enough. Kai Leng didn't finish the job, but I will."

"This ends here," Annie promised.

"On the contrary. Now that the Reapers are taken care of, we have a way out."

"I'm sorry, but that's just not going to happen. Now give me Oriana and the research data. Do that…and I'll consider how you leave this hell hole."

"You want a lot," Henry muttered, but it seemed like the man was mulling it over. He wasn't a soldier. He was a coward. And cowards could be easily negotiated with if the right leverage points were used.

"How much is your life worth?" He paused for a moment before releasing Oriana and pushing her away from him. The woman fell to the ground and henry kept his gun raised.

"All right. Take her. But I want out alive. Deal?"

Suddenly Miranda's body was enveloped in biotic energy as she slammed her fist forward. A massively powerful wave smacked into the man, propelling him against and then through the window behind him. He was flung into the massive warehouse space and fell the full hundred meters or so to the ground. "No deal," Miranda growled before rushing to help Oriana up. Annie had to admit she wasn't exactly surprised by what Miranda had done. The commander wasn't really planning on letting him get out alive anyway. But she wasn't going to mention that.

"Commander Shepard," Miranda winced, leaving Oriana's side once she was sure her younger sister was safe. "Fancy meeting you here." Kai Leng had done a number on the woman, her mouth was stained with blood and she was heavily favoring her left side at the moment. But she kept her chin up, like always.

"Don't tell me you didn't actually expected me to show up," Annie smirked as Miranda gave her own weak smirk.

"I don't know how you managed it, but I'm glad you're here."

"Miranda…this whole thing was a huge risk. You should have told me."

"You have a war to win, Annie. This was my fight. It's been a line time coming."

"Your fight or not, Miranda, I would have helped you," Annie stressed as Miranda smirked and nodded.

"I know, which is why I didn't want you to get involved. If…if this hadn't turned out the way it did then I didn't want you to feel responsible for whatever happened to me." She looked towards Annie with empathetic eyes. "I'm sure you have enough of that to go around." Annie gave a sad smile, looking down at the floor.

"About your father-"

"I'm glad I did it," Miranda interrupted, turning away from Annie to look through the broken window. "I know that sounds harsh but…"

"No, I understand," and she did in some way. Like her ties with Mira, the woman's death was just something that needed to be done by her own hand. "But now it's over," she smiled, glancing at Annie over her shoulder. "We can stop running."

Annie then turned towards Garrus and Liara who had been looking through what remained on the facilities computers. It wasn't much but it would be something Traynor could at least get her hands one and hopefully give them another lead. But then Miranda surprised Annie with the unexpected as she pulled out a small device. "Before Kai Leng took off, I planted a tracer on him. If you act fast, you'll track him right to the Illusive Man." Miranda informed them, handing over the device.

The group then said their goodbyes as Miranda promised she would speak to Annie again soon. It was good to know there was something concrete about the woman now. She just hoped she'd stay out of trouble while getting Oriana somewhere safe.


	99. A Place to Call Home

Annie stepped up to the galactic map, glancing at the blinking system where the Cerberus headquarters awaited their "visit." She had to admit she was a little anxious about it. Once she took Cerberus down – and she _would_ take them down – they would be heading straight to Earth. So maybe she was delaying a little...or a lot, she was sort of hoping no one would notice.

"Commander," Traynor called as Annie glanced over her shoulder at the Specialist. "Admiral Hackett is calling for you in the comm-room. Says it's important." Annie slouched somewhat at the comment, unsure if it was for relief or annoyance. Either way she headed into the comm-room, standing appropriately as the admiral came into view.

"Sir," she greeted with a nod of her head as he reciprocated.

_Shepard, I have been told you are just about to embark for the Cerberus Headquarters._

"Yes sir."

_Then I have a request. Return to the Citadel. You have henceforth been placed on a required shore leave for the next week while the Normandy's systems are reviewed._ Annie blinked, her posture immediately breaking as she shook her head.

"That's very generous, sir. But I assure you the Normandy is in perfect condition for this mission. We can't wait any longer on this. Earth needs us." He held up his hand to stop Annie.

_Shepard, you have put more of yourself into this war effort than half of the people fighting in it._ Annie bowed her head.

"Sir, I don't know if-"

_Annie, I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. You know as well as I do that the moment you head to Cerberus that there will be no turning back. Do this as a personal favor, for David and me._ Annie glanced up, rubbing the back of her neck. She hated to know Anderson was down there on Earth struggling to survive while she was sitting on bar stools tossing back shots. _Are we clear, Shepard?_

"Yes…yes sir, we're clear. I'll have Joker reroute us to the Citadel."

_Good, Anderson said he also had something to show you on the Citadel. Specialist Traynor has been sent the details for when you arrive_.

"Thank you, sir."

_You deserve this, Annie. No one in this galaxy deserves it more._ The call ended but Annie continued to stand there, staring at the blank space where Admiral Hackett's hologram had been. She guessed she did deserve it. But she was also so close to the end of all of this, to finally coming face to face with the Reaper's forces. She was finally about to stand up against the darkness of the galaxy and fight for all of those that had sacrificed their lives in her name. Only…she found a morbid thought coming to her. What if this was it? Her last big hurrah? The last stand of the great Commander Shepard?

She had done some much in her life and yet felt like she had so much more to do. Hell, she had her own personal future after all of this. The future of plain ole Annie Shepard. But how much was that worth compared to the safety of the galaxy? There would finally be peace after all of the years of fighting and death. Was she really all right with simply becoming a name? Years after she would still be known as the young woman that saved the galaxy. But generations would pass and soon Shepard would just be a symbol, nothing more.

Was she ready to become nothing more than a bedtime story for the safety of the galaxy? Was she ready to break a promise to her lover that she always regretted making? It was stupid but Annie couldn't help it. She was still so young, not even thirty…oh god she wasn't even thirty and she was already imagining the ceremony honoring her sacrifice. Hackett was right, she needed a little time away from all of this and a little more than a few hours with Liara. She wouldn't tell Liara…but if this were to be her last week alive she would spend it with the people that she loved.

The taxi carted her across the Citadel, landing near an apartment complex at the end of some neon-plastered strip. It certainly looked fancy. Then again she'd never been here before – she hadn't really been much of anywhere on the Citadel. Either way, apparently Anderson had something he wanted to show her in the apartment complex as she headed inside and was directed by the woman at the front desk to the right floor. She didn't want to spend much time here. Liara had promised after she finished up some work that they could spend some time just walking around the Citadel together. It was an activity that both were surprised to admit they had never done before.

She stepped up to the door, the sensors recognizing her and immediately opening to something she hadn't expected. It was an apartment. An _amazing_ apartment. She didn't have to walk far to see just how massive the space was. It was two floors with a massive great room and multiple hallways to who knew where. Plus an entire side of the space was covered in windows that over-looked the strip. What was Anderson doing with the keys to this place?

_Commander, I've got Admiral Anderson on the QEC. Patching him through to you now,_ Traynor informed her as Annie turned towards the screen by the door. Immediately the man's face popped up and he gave a bit of a tired smile. Annie couldn't help but look past him at the destruction of London. It was painful to see. But she wouldn't say it out loud as she simply forced her own welcoming smile.

"Anderson, how are you holding up?"

_Day by day, Annie._ Annie smirked and nodded; she knew all too well what that felt like.

"Hackett sent me a message about this apartment."

_I want you to have it. Take it off my hands._ Annie blinked, unable to hide the shock in her face

"You can't be serious." He sighed, shifting in his place before giving a small nod.

_You need a place that's yours – somewhere to recharge, clear your head. Maybe even somewhere to settle down. Kahlee had wanted us to settle down there. Thing is, the longer I'm on Earth, the less I want to leave._ Annie turned away to give the apartment another look, bowing her head at the mention of Kahlee. She was happy for what they had; she just wished he had told her. _And I want as few loose ends out there as possible. Like I said, you'd be doing me a favor._

"This place is too big for this to just be a favor, David," she remarked, turning back to the screen.

_Maybe, but it's practical. We need you in the best shape possible. Rested. Focused._ But Annie didn't believe that, at least she didn't believe that was the only reason he was handing her the keys.

"What is this really about, David. Tell me…please." He chuckled, shaking his head as Annie gave him an impatient look.

_You were always the one for being direct._ He gave another tired sigh before gently shrugging his shoulders. _With everything that's going on here, Annie…I'm lucky to still be around. But when you bring the cavalry I don't think I'll make it out to the other side_.

"Don't say that!" Annie snapped, poking at the screen as if he was standing right in front of her. "You'll make it out alive just like everyone else."

_Annie, I appreciate what you're trying to say…but I'm okay. I'm at peace with this. I've done my work. I've won my battles. I'm just here keeping as many people alive until you arrive, Annie. That's what this has always been about. Consider this my thank you for everything you've done._ Annie looked down, pulling in a shaky breath.

"Yes sir," she finally acknowledge, saluting the screen as Anderson chuckled again.

_Just get some rest. Feel free to break the place in for me. And be careful, Annie._

"You too," she smiled before the call ended, leaving her alone in the empty space. Again she took a look around, rubbing the back of her neck before giving a disbelieving laugh. This place was ridiculous. As she walked around she found three different bedrooms, a workout space, three bathrooms, kitchen, office, poker space, bar, and more. And apparently it was all hers.


	100. Shore Leave Turned Sour

She plopped herself down in the office chair, shifting slightly on the expensive leather until she was comfortable. Maybe she could get used to this. Already she could see Liara pacing around the room while on a call, children threading themselves between her legs before hiding under Annie's desk. Maybe Anderson was right…a place like this was very practical and perfect for what she and Liara had in store after all of this.

Suddenly a bright green light started to flash on her desk and Annie leaned forward to bring up the notification. She chuckled, reading through Joker's message about taking her to dinner. He must be going stir crazy with having someone else walking through the Normandy. The kid was never good at even getting off the ship when they docked. Now a days the only reason was because EDI wanted to walk around. But he seemed interested in some fancy sushi place and she supposed she could at least stop by for a drink before meeting up with Liara.

Annie stepped towards the restaurant, giving a frustrated huff at the line stretching out the door. She couldn't see Joker as she stepped around, but suddenly the host seemed to recognize her. He waved her down and Annie got a few dirty looks from waiting customers, but for once Annie was enjoying the advantage of being military famous.

Joker waved her over at the far end of the restaurant. "Hey, Shepard. Not bad, huh? This sushi place is serious. Like "French guy at the door" serious," he greeted as Annie laughed before sliding into the modern seat. "And look at that, you only had to save the galaxy twice to get a table here. You've seen the line outside?" Annie smirked, leaning back in the chair as the two looked towards the front. Some woman was trying to sneak past the "French guy at the door" to no avail. It almost looked like she was trying to wave down Annie…but the commander just chose to return to the conversation instead. She was on shore leave, which meant not getting into trouble, just relaxing. "But here I am, drink in hand. Best pilot in the universe and a rock star."

"Don't forget humble," Annie added, making Joker laugh. "Any news from the Normandy?"

"Ah, you know. Maintenance stuff. It's hard knowing a bunch of strangers are poking around in my ship. I mean…your ship."

"Doesn't that also sort of mean they're poking around in EDI?" Annie questioned as Joker made a sour face, making Annie laugh and shake her head. "You're right, I take that back. Pretend I never said it. But honestly, the best thing we can do right now is park her, and let the techs to their work."

"Ya…I guess so. Let someone else do the work for once," Annie took her water glass and gave a cheers motion in his direction as Joker did the same. "So…your email said it was important?" Annie blinked, the vibrating music from the club filling their awkward silence before Annie slowly shook her head.

"My email? I'm here because I got a message from you."

"The hell? I didn't send anything," Joker responded as Annie raised a suspicious brow. She had a worrying feeling settle into her stomach. Then who the hell had sent it? Maybe it was one of her crewmen trying to force Joker and Annie to take some time off. Then again…the only people she knew ballsy enough to do that were currently busy with their own shore leave events.

"Commander!" Came a sudden call from across the room, breaking Annie from her thoughts as she glanced over. It was the woman from before; apparently she'd finally been successful at evading the host. "Commander, this is urgent!" She announced, pardoning her way through the crowd of people as Annie gave a confused look at Joker. "Commander Shepard, I'm Staff Analyst Maya Brooks. Alliance Intelligence. There are people trying to kill you." Joker and Annie looked at one another again before bursting into loud and obnoxious laughter. Annie gripped at her sore stomach, as Joker cleared his throat, the first of the two to collect himself.

"Ya…I think she's aware of that," he remarked, a few chuckles sneaking out between words.

"No, I don't mean Cerberus and the Reapers!" She exclaimed, obviously flustered. "I mean other people! New people! They're…it's…" She took a deep breath; an act Annie didn't think would help much. "Someone is hacking your account. Comm channels, personal records. They're targeting you, specifically." Annie shifted, now a little more interested in what this woman was saying. It wasn't like she'd been paying close attention to her accounts, other things had been more important than someone stealing from her bank account. Then again…she would have figured Traynor would have told her if something like that had happened. But maybe the Specialist had missed it, Annie couldn't blame her, she'd ordered the woman to focus solely on finding Cerberus. Things would have slipped through the cracks.

"What do they want?" Annie asked as Brooks took in another deep breath.

"The Intel isn't definitive yet. Last time I guessed without definitive Intel, we almost landed troops on a gas giant. Which is bad." Annie nodded slowly; she was doing a _great_ job at making a first impression so far.

At the front of the restaurant several men began entering, Annie noticing them out of the corner of her eye. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight's performance is brought to you by random acts of violence." The leader of the troop announced as Annie stood to her feet. They were dressed in very odd looking armor, nothing she'd seen before with weapons that didn't look like anything she'd gotten her hands on. Who were these people?

Immediately they started to fire into the air as Annie grabbed Joker's arm and dragged him down, pulling the table onto its side to shield them. "Spread out! Find Shepard!" Another ordered as Annie glanced towards where Brooks was hiding. And then a man was behind the Analyst and dragging her away. Annie gritted her teeth, she had to get Brooks away from them.

"Find the crew," Annie told Joker, "I'll go after Brooks."

'Find the crew. Got it!" He whispered, crouching his way towards the back exit. An enemy walked towards their table, raising his gun at Joker only for Annie to pop up and grab him by the collar. She yanked him over the table and onto his back, slamming her omni-blade into his chest. Good, one down.

Annie then picked up the guy's pistol, turning it over in her hand out of curiosity. "You used me as bait!" Joker exclaimed, pulling Annie's attention away from the curious weapon as she rolled her eyes.

"We don't have time for this, Joker. Go!" She ordered as he continued on, muttering about the horrible things she did to him. He'd get over it. He was a big boy.

COMMENTS: 100 chapters! Woohoo! Enjoy!


	101. Taking a Tumble

Annie took in a deep breath, curling around cover to try and count the number of bodies. Looked like six, but they had a few fancy trinkets to help them as Annie ducked back to avoid a security drone. Who the fuck were these people? Brooks screamed from the front of the restaurant and Annie forced herself to focus simply on that as she aimed for a nearby enemy and fired. The gun shot two powerful bullets into the man, through his armor like it wasn't even there. She needed to figure out who manufactured this and see if they had other models.

She crept forward, dragging the man's body out of view before snapping up from cover and gripping another man's head. She twisted it swiftly, snapping his neck before ducking back down. This time someone took notice, cautiously making his way towards her as Annie pulled one of the guy's gloves off to expose his hand. She stretched it so his fingers poked just out of the cover and caught attention of the other guy. He chuckled, remarking on finding her hiding spot as Annie stood and pressed the pistol to his temple. "Nope, and you were so close too," she fired, his head sounding like it had exposed inside his helmet. Unfortunately, that gave away her position as she was forced into a firefight.

But eventually she seemed to have gotten them all and was able to get up to Brooks. Annie helped her up only for another round of thugs to appear at the top of the stairs, the sniper aiming at Annie's chest. Brooks shoved her out of the way, taking the bullet as Annie landed onto her back on the floor. The thing about this restaurant was that to keep with the sushi theme the entire restaurant rested on top of an aquarium. So as the sniper began to fire at the ground around her the glass began to crack and spider underneath her. Annie tried to crawl away but was too late as it gave out under her weight.

She screamed, grabbing for anything and everything that she could get her hands on. One moment she'd find a hold and then the next it would crumble under her weight and she start tumbling again. Why did buildings have to be so tall? Wasn't there a time where the average building was only a handful of stories? Rather than a few dozen? At one point in her fall – because it was that far – Annie could only imagine what it was going to be like when she hit the ground. And once that thought appeared she became more desperate to stop herself.

Finally she gripped an open side flap, looking around to try and find what her next step would be. But the building wasn't done with her yet as all of the debris she'd created from her fall finally caught up to her. It crashed against the flap and forced her off to fall another several stories before colliding harshly with the metal floor of a maintenance area. Annie felt her consciousness waver as her body tried to comprehend what was going on. Everything hurt. Her hands were bleeding from grabbing onto sharp objects. Every inch of her body was bruised, and she was sure she had broken a handful of ribs from the extreme pain each breath of air brought on.

At least she still had her gun.

_Commander, I found a secure terminal! Are you okay down there?_ Annie heard Brooks chirp on her comm-unit as she slowly stumbled to her feet, gripping her stomach with her free hand.

"Yup…feeling great," she winced, her breathing forced to be short and shallow as she moved through the maintenance area, looking for any nearby defining feature to help her. "But Brooks, I saw you get hit."

_I know! I used medi-gel. A lot of it. Um, all of it, actually. And now everything is a little bit bouncy._ Perfect. Well at least one of them had taken advantage of the medi-gel. It wasn't like Annie could use any at this point in time.

"I think you used too much," Annie huffed, leaping across a gap and immediately yelping in pain. "Fucking son of a bitch restaurant with your god dammit fucking aquarium!" She shouted, grinding her teeth together as if screaming would make all the pain go away. It didn't.

_C-Commander?_ Brooks stuttered as Annie carefully climbed down a ladder.

"Sorry. Look, just contact C-Sec. I see some skycars across the gap. Maybe a landing pad. See if you can get a shuttle over there."

_I'll try. Oh, also, stay off your comm…well except for me. It's hacked, that's how they found you_. She warned as Annie nodded. Maybe it was the fact that she probably had a minor concussion or just how she wanted to get somewhere safe, but she'd believe anything from the Analyst at this point.

Annie climbed up several more maintenance ladders, finding herself on top of a strip of shops. C-Sec had shut down the area, though they seemed to have over looked the small army of armored up thugs that were tucked into the nooks and crannies. This was getting ridiculous. No, it had passed ridiculous the moment she'd crashed through the aquarium floor.

_Annie? Can you hear me? Are you all right?_ Liara's voice broke over her comm-unit as Annie gave a relieved sigh.

"Ya…just perfect. Oh, except for the men trying to kill me and the fact that I just fell about a hundred stories and landed on my face. Back up would be appreciated." Annie hissed, pulling up her cloak as she ducked behind cover, taking out a few nearby guys before they raised any alarms.

_I hate to say this…but I'm not particularly surprised._ Annie rolled her eyes, taking out another thug that was getting a little too curious. _Joker explained what happened, I'm on foot, but should reach you soon._

_Excuse me, who is this? You're on an unsecured channel, and you're putting Commander Shepard in danger!_ Brooks snapped, the comment finally alerting others to Annie's presence and the commander was forced into a very unfair fight. They simply didn't have a chance.

_In danger? Who is this?_ Liara demanded as Annie was forced behind a nearby shop stall.

"Ladies, calm down. Joker mentioned Brooks, yes? That's her. Everybody play nice!" Annie shouted, sticking out her leg to trip a running thug before shooting him in the head as he was falling.


	102. What is Even Going On?

She forced her exhausted body onward, shooting through another group of enemies and then pushing past C-Sec security lock down. Unfortunately, that walked her right onto a bridge absolutely swarming with mercenaries. Why couldn't she catch a break? "Liara, any time you want to show up would be wonderful," Annie panted, pulling back behind cover just in time to avoid a wave of bullets.

_I'm sorry, I've had to take a few detours because of the lock down. Everyone else is trying to make their way to you as well._

"I guess that's something," she muttered, firing another overpowered bullet into a thug's skull. She would certainly be pocketing this pistol after all of this.

Annie limped across the bridge and through another shop, hearing gunfire ahead. God she hoped it was Liara. And for once she was right as she came through the door, leaning on a nearby wall to give herself a moment to catch what little breath that she could. All the while Liara took out the two enemies without a problem, crushing them under a hurled taxi. Hopefully Liara planned to pay for the damages…then again she probably wouldn't. Mostly because who could keep up with all of the damage that had already been dealt?

"Annie!" She exclaimed, running over and scooping up the woman. "What's wrong? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, a few bruises, concussion, broken ribs, maybe a punctured lung. Not entirely sure yet, haven't had a chance to do a full physical." Liara scowled, gripping her cheek but Annie couldn't help but smile at the woman. "You have no idea how happy I am that you're finally here," she confessed as Liara chuckled shaking her head.

"Come on, let's get you on that shuttle." They headed through the garage; making their way out onto the landing pad she had seen before. But as the shuttle arrived Annie found a weird feeling settling in her stomach. She stepped back, pulling Liara with her and just as the door opened they dove for cover. Immediately a shuttle full of the mercenaries unloaded onto the loading pad as Liara curled over Annie, her botic shields holding firm. How did they know they were waiting for a shuttle? Not many groups that attacked Annie were able to connect the dots so quickly. It was like they were hearing everything she was saying. Maybe…maybe they were just listening to her…like Brooks had said.

And then out of nowhere come Wrex, jumping out of an upper window and slamming down onto the nose of the shuttle. It forced the vehicle to the ground as he climbed up and off and charged into the shuttle. Without hesitation Wrex took out each and every thug waiting for them before making his way back onto the landing pad. Liara and Annie stood (with a little help) as Annie shook her head in disbelief. "Wrex? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Ah, just butting heads with the Council over krogan expansion," but before he could explain more an army of more fancy thugs invaded the garage. He tossed Annie a bigger gun and the three of them charged into the space. Just like the good old days.

Minutes later and Joker was there, hovering by the edge of the landing pad and Annie, Wrex, and Liara hopped on. She collapsed onto the shuttle's row of seats only to yelp again as her body reminded her she needed to be more delicate. "Shirt off, I need to look at your injuries," Liara ordered.

"Come on you two, at least wait until we get back to Annie's swanky-ass apartment first." Liara rolled her eyes, bringing up her omni-tool to do a general overview of Annie's condition. Considering the number of blinking red dots on the holographic image of her body…she didn't think it was good.

They arrived at the apartment as Liara helped Annie to the large couch in the main room, gesturing to the buttons on Annie's uniform. Annie rolled her eyes but obliged, carefully undoing them. "Someone want to tell me what's going on here?" Wrex asked, forcing his gaze away from Annie as she exposed her torso, glad Liara was fine with her just removing her shirt and nothing more.

"Who were those mercenaries? They were heavily armed and using C-Sec shuttles," Liara commented, pulling off her gloves to run her bare fingers along the already dark bruises along Annie's ribs. Annie pulled in a sharp hiss, making Liara pull her hand away quickly before typing a few things into her omin-tool. Carefully she pressed her hand onto Annie's side and the commander set her jaw firmly as she felt her bones slowly and painfully heal under her skin. The bruise would remain for a week, but at lest now she took take a full and deep breath…as well as get dressed again.

"I don't know," Annie noted, standing to her feet as she finished up the last of the buttons. "I've never seen them before." Liara then pulled at Annie's hands, turning over her shredded fingertips and cut palms. Carefully Liara covered her hands over each of Annie's, letting the medi-gel seep in as Annie tried to ignore the pinching sensation that came from growing out her nails again. Thank every god and goddess in this galaxy for medi-gel. This whole situation would have been a lot worse without it.

"I can't believe you survived all that. They had guns! And grenades! And those drone things!" Brooks exclaimed, pacing quickly back and forth as Annie gave Wrex and Liara a confused look. This woman really needed to learn to take a few deep breaths and calm down.

"It's fine. I'm calling Commander Bailey; see what's going on with C-Sec," Annie remarked but Brooks quickly shook her head.

"You can't do that! Wouldn't that just make whoever you contact a target, too?"

"She does have a point," Liara noted, though she looked oddly defensive as she glanced towards Brooks. Like she knew something was off with the woman.

"All right," Annie huffed, "for now we run this ourselves." What a great start to shore leave. "But Brooks, I know this is a lot to deal with," Annie started, trying to calm the woman down so she wouldn't drive all of them absolutely crazy.

"I got shot!" She interrupted; making it clear she wasn't going to drop it like Annie wanted her to. "I've got medi-gel, but still, I took a desk job explicitly to not get shot! And you killed a hundred guys with a pistol!"

"I wouldn't say a hundred…" Annie whispered. "But that did happen. How did you even get mixed up in this then?"

"I monitor data for Alliance Intel to prevent fraud and hacking of officer IDs. Like someone using an admiral's pass to get into a nightclub on the Citadel when that admiral is fighting on Tuchanka? I wrote a tracking program to help with it. It's really neat." Annie was starting to believe this woman simply didn't need oxygen to live with how much and how quickly she talked. "My program detected a breach in your classified files. Soon, everything we had on you was compromised: personnel files, mission reports, everything."

"And since when does hacking personnel records involve heavy weapon fire?" Wrex commented, of which Annie admitted was a good point.

"Think of what criminals could do if they had Shepard's military access codes. Or Spectre codes, even!"

"Okay, I see the problem then. Let's figure out who they are and shut them down." Annie stated as the group nodded. "Any ideas?"

"Maybe," Liara chimed in, picking up the pistol Annie had stolen and placed on the coffee table. "This pistol…I've never seen anything like it before. Let me see if I can dig something up on it." Immediately she began typing things into her omni-tool.

"Well, you can try, but I should warn you, I haven't found anything yet, and I've been digging pretty deep," Brooks commented. Liara couldn't help but give a small chuckle.

"I'm sure you have," she remarked as if speaking to a young child. "Glyph," the information drone appeared and immediately began searching through all files the Shadow Broker had access to just as Annie's front door opened. She smiled, watching the rest of her crew step in as Annie climbed up towards the front door.

"I found some folks who actually like being shot at," Joker announced, throwing his thumb over his shoulder at the gaggle of aliens.


	103. The Run Down

The crew dispersed throughout the massive apartment, poking at trinkets and testing out the couch cushions. They too seemed amazed by the idea of this being someone's home. All of them lived in a world where they didn't really have a defined place to stay. The most constant "home" of theirs was either their military barracks or the Normandy. Being in a place like this was almost a learning experience for them. It also helped occupy their busy minds while Liara dug through contacts and folders to find out more about whoever these mercenaries were.

"What have you found?" Annie asked, stepping into the dinning area of the apartment where Liara had set herself up. The asari glanced over; watching as Annie carefully settled her hips on the edge of the table, shifting until it was no longer sore.

"You should really take it easy, Annie," she remarked, pulling up the tabs on her omni-tool on the console programed into the table.

"I will when I'm not being shot at." Liara gave a hard laugh, glancing back to her lover.

"Annie, for the four years that I have known you I don't know if there was ever a time you weren't shot at." Annie smirked, giving a shrug before shifting again, a small wince pulling on her face and then disappearing. She gripped Liara's face, leaning close.

"After this war I can finally take a break and we can settle. Maybe…here even, the beds look very comfortable," she whispered as Liara fluttered her eyelids and leaned gently forward. Suddenly Brooks cleared her throat on the far side of the table just as a beep sounded from Liara's findings. Annie pulled back, face flushed as she moved away and let her continue working.

"Before any of that," Liara noted, "I think I've finally found something." Annie nodded, calling over the crew as they all collected around the table. "We have a lead. I called in some favors to run a trace on the gun. It led me to a casino owner named Elijah Khan. He's been suspected of using his profits to smuggle weapons onto the Citadel. Immediately after the attempt on Annie's life, Khan made an interesting call." Liara typed several things into her omni-tool to bring up the vocal recording she was speaking of.

_I'm cutting you off. I'm returning your down payment now._ That had to be Elijah, and he clearly was not happy that Annie had made it out of there alive.

_What's the problem?_ The voice was deep, obviously altered but oddly enough Annie felt like she had heard it before. It was one of those voices that she could recognize but the answer simply hung on the tip of her tongue, refusing to budge.

_Turn on a vidscreen! When I sell a gun I don't want it showing up on the nightly news!_

_You won't be linked to me._

_Save it. Our association is terminated. And if you even think of coming after me, I've got info on you ready for prime time, so you ponder that. Khan out._ The call ended and the recording closed as Annie gave a tired huff, resting her palms on the edge of the table.

"So that's our identity thief. Did you get anything on the mercenaries that attacked us?" Annie asked Liara, pushing off the table to cross her arms over her chest.

"They're a private military corporation called CAT6. As most of you know, CAT6 is an Alliance nickname for dishonorable discharges. Many have criminal records, histories of steroid abuse, and other charming features. No doubt hired by the thief, not by Khan." Oh yeah, Annie had heard of CAT6, even been around to watch several soldiers join their ranks during her military career. A lot of them were weak-willed men believing that simply having the right to hold a gun made them special. Being a woman she was one of the many victims to their "attempts" and one of the many that exposed them for the disgusting monsters they were. She might take a little pleasure beating the shit out of these guys whenever they popped up again.

"So, how did you get all of this info?" Brooks asked as Liara gave Annie a sideways glance. Everyone except for James knew about Liara being the Shadow Broker. And the only reason James didn't know was because he was a pup that needed to earn that sort of trust. Javik had simply found a way to "feel it out" plus Liara didn't have much control over what she said when they first met. With that being said Brooks was the _last_ person that would get such a privilege.

"It involved the weapon's biometric data, salarian intelligence, and a hanar prostitute with camera implants." Liara's face was solid but suddenly Ashley snorted into laughter as the rest of the table joined. Brooks simply stood there, completely confused until the chuckles died down to a low giggle. "Why does it matter? I got the information. And the truth is boring." For a moment Liara sounded like Javik. But again, she looked surprisingly defensive, as if she wasn't sharing with the rest of the crew something she knew.

"Well, on another note, Kahn didn't sound too friendly to whoever that voice was. Maybe he'd pass on that info to us," Annie remarked.

"That would take some extremely smooth talking. If he sees you, he'll probably assume you're looking for revenge." Annie huffed at Liara's remark. She was right. Annie might have a way with words at times, but if she couldn't even get through the front door then talking wouldn't help them much. "The casino has a panic room. Chances are, he'll have gone to ground there. EDI can give us programs to hack the door but the cameras and guards complicate things."

"Yeah," Brooks suddenly chimed in, "Khan could disappear or worse. If his guards even open fire, normal people could get hit. Like I did." Annie looked down at the table, biting her lip in thought. Brooks was right, that place would be full of innocent by-standers and she doubted Khan's guards cared about being careful.

"You're right. We can't risk spooking him," Annie agreed, looking up. "We go in quiet. Small team. No gunplay."

_Dr. T'Soni_, Glyph appeared in front of Liara, _the casino will be hosting a charity event to assist war refugees_.

"And there's our cover. Purchase some tickets, Glyph, then call up a layout of the building," Liara instructed as Glyph shrunk away, the schematics of the casino appearing in its place.

"This air shaft bypasses the security gate and ends up in storage," EDI informed, using her own technical abilities to mark points on the layout. "From there, the panic room's door camera can be disabled."

"Too convenient. There's going to be alarms all over that shaft," Ashley interjected as Annie huffed, leaning her palms back on the table. It would be nice to just be able to take the easy route for once.

"I believe I have some countermeasures that may help. I'll know more once we're inside," Liara added.

"Whoever goes in the shaft needs to be small in size," Annie noted, standing back up and rubbing her chin in thought. "And if Khan has gone through this much trouble I'm afraid that takes you out of it, Tali. He's probably got security sensors all through the shafts to pick up any synthetic or technical spikes. And all casino's refuse to allow any sort of VI or AI technology in there." Well that was two of their smallest volunteers out of the picture.

"What you need is someone trained in zero emissions tech. No electronics, no metal. Just undetectable polymers," Brooks explained as the whole group turned to the inexperienced Analyst.

"All right. You're in," Annie answered. They didn't have the time to debate about this.

"But…I managed to get shot just coming to talk to you! Now I'm supposed to hack my way into a safe room?"

"We'll be backing you up," Annie promised. "The second you hit something you can't handle, we'll cover you."

"If that's settled," Liara huffed, closing down the schematics in the center of the table. "It looks like there's one last hurdle to get us inside," Annie raised a curious brow as Liara smirked. "Black tie required."


	104. Black Tie Required

Annie sat on the master bed, acting like a stubborn child as Liara pulled out evening dress after evening dress from the closet – apparently Kahlee had added quite the wardrobe to this place. "What's so wrong with wearing my uniform? Or just some pants?" Annie huffed as Liara rolled her eyes, taking one of the dresses and setting it to the side.

"Because this is a charity gala, they don't actually want military people there and wearing pants would put you out of place. Which the whole point of this is to have you blend in," Liara explained, undoing some of the buckles on her clothes. Annie watched, giving a small smirk and a shake of her head. "What?" Liara asked, rolling here eyes, "You honestly think you would be going to this without me? You always told me we couldn't go to things like this because of your work. Well now you're required to go to it so I don't see why we wouldn't make it a date." Liara stepped into the floor-length dress as Annie chuckled.

"I suppose that's true," she sighed, finally turning her attention to the outfits only to make a face at each one. They all looked so uncomfortable and constricting. What if she was thrown into another firefight? What if they needed to get out of there suddenly? Or more importantly, what if she needed to get out of it quickly? "Does it have to be a dress?"

"It can't be pants," Liara stressed as she stepped out the door without another word, leaving Annie to her choices for several more minutes before Annie finally appeared at the top of the stairs.

A wolf whistle came from James as Annie carefully descended the stairs, trying to get used to the added inches from her heels. She had no idea how women did this on a regular basis. "Shepard, you sure you don't need me tagging along?" Garrus offered only for Tali to slap him across the shoulder.

"Garrus," she scolded as he chuckled and shook his head. Annie grumbled as she continued onwards. She decided on a knee-high black skirt, a cut sliding up to the middle of her thigh so she could walk with a somewhat normal stride. Her top was a deep navy corset-like item. It hugged her slim waist and pushed up where it needed to, gold buttons going down the center. If Annie didn't know any better she would have said that the Alliance uniforms had gone off and made their own clothing line. She practically still looked like she was wearing her uniform as she tugged her gentle blonde waves over her shoulder, paying with the tips.

"You look beautiful," Liara smiled, kissing Annie on the cheek as they headed out of the apartment and towards the casino.

"So do you. But after this," Annie warned, "You don't get to say I never take you anywhere nice."

"Deal," Liara smiled, sliding her hand into Annie's as the pair made their way to the casino doors. But Annie hesitated, feeling like she saw someone familiar out of the corner of her eye. Only when she looked closer, he was gone. Must've been the trick of the light. Either way, the three of them flashed their tickets and were welcomed happily into the casino.

Immediately Annie wanted to leave. It was filled with the sort of stuffy people that didn't really understand what was happening in the galaxy. They weren't there to support the war efforts; they were there to support their own egos. "We should probably mingle some to look like we actually belong here," Liara whispered to Annie, sliding her hand up to wrap gently around the crook of Annie's elbow. Several eyes turned but only for a moment before their noses lifted and they returned to their high-society conversations. She would need a drink before talking to these people.

They made their rounds through the casino before Brooks come over on Annie's comm, talking about some sort of problem. Annie huffed, taking another sip of her drink before passing it to Liara, she shouldn't have had one in the first place…but she was going to use the shore leave excuse if anyone asked. "What's wrong?" Annie asked as they came up to the second floor, stepping into an inlet off of the dance floor where Brooks was standing by a large ventilation door. Security would have to be tight for a door like that to be so blatantly obvious.

"Okay, right. Just like we thought. There's an alarm on the grate," Brooks explained as Liara stepped forward, clearing her throat.

"Here, use this," she handed Annie a small container bisected into two sides. "It's a resonance emitter lens. It should let you see security grids and wiring." Annie opened up on side to see what Liara was talking about. They were high-tech contacts that itched like crazy when she put them in. But after a few blinks she could see massive lines of wiring traveling between the floors and walls. It was impressive.

"Okay," Annie gave a few more blinks till the contacts were bearable. "I'll find the junction box and disable it," Annie nodded, following the lines as Liara trailed casually next to her. "You know, Liara," Annie started, "The next time you want to get me a toy I can direct you in a more…personal direction."

"Stop it," Liara hissed, but she wasn't able to hide her smile as she stepped away to let Annie take care of the nearby junction box. She disabled it easily and then Brooks was able to get into the ventilation system, telling them to entertain themselves for a while. Annie knew of one-way she wanted to entertain herself with Liara…but that could risk them getting thrown out. So she decided to drag Liara towards the dance floor, the asari quickly starting to giggle. "You can't be serious, Annie. You're horrible at dancing."

"That's just to make everyone else feel better," Annie smirked, sliding around the asari and resting herself comfortably behind Liara. She rolled and waved her hips in time with the pulsing electronic music, hands sliding up and down Liara's sides. Liara leaned her head back on Annie's shoulder, bringing her own talents to the table as the pair forgot the reason that they were even in this place; at least until Brooks chirped into Annie's comm-unit.

_Commander, there's a guard right below me,_ she whispered as Annie sighed, pulling away from Liara. The asari stumbled slightly, no longer having a body to lean against as she quickly corrected herself and followed Annie back downstairs.

"Don't panic, I'll get his attention," Annie assured her, making her way down to where Brooks apparently was waiting. A guard was watching what looked like some sort of VIP area. Annie did her best to make up some excuse about drug use in the women's restroom and fortunately it was enough to get him to walk away from the ventilation grate on the ceiling. And then it was back to mingling. Sadly, Annie and Liara both realized they couldn't go back to dancing. They needed to focus, which meant their mingling mostly involved pretending to be interested in politicians.


	105. Running Into the Unexpected

And things had seemed to go smoothly for a while as Annie deactivated a handful of more sensors and then went back to mingling with the businessmen and women of the galaxy. At least until Brooks tripped a silent alarm and Annie was force to searched out the guard called to check in on it and stall him. And the only excuse she could come up with she wasn't particularly proud of.

"Hey there…big boy," she slurred, sliding her hand across his shoulders as she stepped around to face him. "You're a guard for this…this place, right?" She giggled for some unknown reason as the man cleared his throat.

"That is correct. Can I help you with something, ma'am?" His ear peace echoed with requests from security to check on the tripped alarm.

"This all sounds so dangerous. Is it dangerous? Do you get to carry a gun?" Annie asked, forcing herself to stumble into him and catching Liara roll her eyes from a distance. The man quickly caught her and Annie giggled again, sliding her arms over his shoulders.

"Are you all right?"

"I am now," she purred, feeling sick from a line.

_False alarm, sir. Seems something accidentally tripped the alarm._ Annie quickly corrected herself, looking surprisingly sober all of a sudden as the man gave her a confused look.

"I just realized I have to get home to feed my…hamster," she muttered, stepping away as the man gave her a lingering glance before shaking his head and continuing with his rounds.

"Your hamster? And what was all of that about?" Liara asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I've done more humiliating things. I mean you thought I was a bad dancer for the last four years."

"And if that didn't work?"

"It did, and that's all that matters," Annie explained as Liara chuckled. But then Annie looked up and came eye-to-eye with the person she saw on their walk in. It was Peter, giving her a surprised look. There was a woman standing next to him that Annie believed to be Mika, drinks in both of their hands.

"Annie," he greeted, clearing his throat as he stepped up. "This is my wife Mika." The brunette smiled, offering her hand to both Liara and Annie. Despite all of the conversation and loud noises from the casino games an awkward silence settled between the couples.

"So, Peter…I didn't expect to find you here," the comment had no inside meaning but Peter seemed to take it poorly anyway.

"Why? Because we're middle class? Because we're not some fancy hero and her sidekick?" He hissed as Annie's brow furrowed.

"What the hell, Peter? It was a simple question. You don't have to attack us. We're just here on a required shore leave," Annie explained, the two siblings seeming to growl at one another like feral animals. Mika cleared her throat, sliding her hand across Peter's chest to hold him back slightly.

"We were given two tickets in the mail," she finally answered as Liara rested her hand on Annie's lower back, trying to soothe her. "The whole time we've been here we haven't gone much further than the Presidium. So we decided we would take advantage of the situation and called up a sitter for the children before coming here." Liara smiled, the companions of the siblings seeming to be the most civil of the group.

"Good for you," Liara smiled, "your children are precious. We came with similar reasons."

"Where are you staying?" Mika asked, a very casual conversation forming despite the tension between Peter and Annie.

"I was…given an apartment a little ways from here," Annie explained only for Peter to immediately scoff in disbelief.

"Of course you were. Now you have a throne to sit yourself upon," he muttered.

"Peter!" His wife hissed, trying to give the two women an apologetic look as Annie shook her head.

"No, let him get it out. I want to understand exactly what I did that seemed to rub him the wrong way."

"We were a humble people before everything that happened on Mindoir," he explained as Annie crossed her arms over her chest. "I would have expected you to still know your roots. But instead you just fly around being the amazing Commander Shepard, living the high-life when you're not out saving the galaxy."

"What are you talking about, Peter?" Annie's volume rose slightly as Liara squeezed Annie's hip to remind her they were in public.

"You live so frivolously with your fancy ship, screwing around with whoever the fuck you want." Annie gave a hard laugh, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You truly don't get it, do you? Here, let me give you a quick summary of my life, _brother_. When I was saved at the age of thirteen I was no longer the little sister you knew from home. I was sixteen before I was stable enough to be placed into foster care. I joined the army because it was the only thing I knew that had any sort of purpose in it. Those 'humble beginnings' you're talking about meant nothing to me because I was just trying to get on with my life. And you should know this; I don't live my life the way you believe. My home is the ship I fly on and it's not a normal day if my life hasn't been put in danger at least once. I didn't come here because I wanted to but because I had to. Four years ago Liara was the first woman I was able to feel comfortable with after everything that happened and she's been the only one since. If anything I envy your lives. You got to spend it living happily with each other and your children. Liara and I have had to put that on hold for the sake of the rest of the galaxy."

A beep came from her comm-unit from Brooks saying she was nearing the panic room. "I'm sorry you have some sort of grudge towards me, Peter. I certainly never wanted that. But we have to go," Annie took a step back as Peter took a sip of his drink, seeming to keep himself from having to saying anything back. Annie gave a solemn nod, deciding to turn her attention to Mika instead to wish her and her children safety before they made their way back into the party.

"Are you all right?" Liara asked as Annie chuckled, shaking her head.

"No, but I'll have the rest of the shore leave to worry about that," she smiled, pushing the emotions back as they smooth talked and hacked their way through the last line of defense, crashing into Khan's panic room. Annie's feet were killing her. She felt like she'd before forced to do her entire mission on Tuchanka in these stupid heels and she was getting sick of them. And then there were the contacts. She was sure she'd be blind once she took them out.


	106. Thanking the Host

"Khan," Annie greeted, the man had his back to them, staring at the fire that was crackling away behind his desk. "I'm not here to threaten you. We need to talk." Suddenly Liara stepped forward, her curiosity leading her around the desk as she turned the man's chair around. His head was slumped forward but Annie could see the every so often drip of blood from the bullet wound in his forehead.

"Apparently this will be strictly a one-sided conversation," Liara remarked as Annie rolled her eyes.

"No, Liara, just no," she explained, hiding a snicker as Brooks started to stutter about how everything on the computer was deleted and that they were at a dead end. Annie knew nothing of the term as she waved her to the side and quickly began typing on the man's computer. A smirk pulled on her lips as her hunch was right, "Someone made a mistake. Whoever cleared this terminal forgot to clear the comm," she smiled, pressing a key that immediately called up the last contact: the thief.

_Elijah, come crawling back?_ The thief greeted, an image coming up on the television. Unfortunately it was distorted, probably another security measure like the altered voice as Annie crossed her arms over her chest.

"Guess again," Annie acknowledged.

_You. I see you've recovered from flopping on the floor like a fish_.

"Funny, but you'll need to do better than that. The last guy that trash talked me was a few kilometers taller than you."

_Brave, I thought as much, but it won't matter._ Annie squinted at the screen. Every so often it would shudder into a complete picture for only a split second and Annie felt like the face was familiar. Again, it was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn't come up with the answer she needed. _You have nothing. All you can do is wait for the hammer to fall._

"Why do this? What did I do to you?" There was always a reason, just like with Peter. Normally it was stupid, but there was always some random personal vendetta creeps like this had with Annie.

_I'm going to take everything you have and everything you are._ It was a very big threat from someone hiding his or her identity. She needed to find out who was making them as the call was ended.

"Grab the data drives, we're heading back to the apartment," Annie ordered as Liara nodded, bringing up her omni-tool to start pulling the drives.

"Wait, the one that got wiped? You think we can find something?" Brooks said in disbelief.

"We've got EDI and Tali. Anything is possible with those two and so the sooner we get the drives to them, the sooner we can track down this threat." Brooks seemed a little hesitant but didn't argue as they got what they needed and left the casino. Annie was gave a sigh of relief as she could finally kick off her shoes and let her bare feet breathe. It might've been the shoes, but she had to admit the rest of her outfit was less annoying than she expected it to be.

"That wasn't too bad was it?" Liara stated as Brooks went off to aid Tali and EDI in any way possible.

"I guess not, still doesn't change my opinion on those sort of events."

"I'm amazed they didn't throw you out for dancing," Garrus commented as Annie rolled her eyes, making her way towards the stairs.

"Keep 'em coming Vakarian. It gives me more ammunition to force you and a special someone to dance together the next chance we get," she shouted before heading upstairs to change back into something more comfortable. Annie had to admit this whole experience was sort of fun. Even if she had to constantly worry about another attack from those mercenaries she felt a little more at ease than she did with most missions. It probably had to do with the fact that this didn't involve the safety of planets or entire civilizations. The only people she had to protect were herself and her crew. It felt like the good old days when they were chasing after Saren and still trying to figure out how the galaxy worked. Everything was new and exciting. She almost wanted to thank the leader of the CAT6 crew for giving them a bit of excitement to this shore leave.

"Where's the food in this place?" James complained as Annie came back down. She'd put on the thin black skin-suit she wore under her armor and an Alliance t-shirt so she didn't look completely ridiculous.

"Do you only think about food, Vega?" Annie commented, stepping past him to check the fridge. Unfortunately he was right, it was completely empty – except for a few bottles of water, of which Annie stole one of them. Then again, Annie wasn't that surprised. Who knew the last time Anderson or Kahlee had been by here?

"You're the one that didn't invite me to that fancy party," he teased as Annie rolled her eyes.

"Trust me, you would have hated it. Plus, they didn't have anything to eat there anyway," she noted, stepping past him and back towards the dinning table. Annie cracked open the seal and guzzle down a few mouthfuls as she watched Brooks, Tali, and EDI toil away.

"So I heard a friend of yours visited," Garrus commented from the nearby doorway. Annie smirked, stepping away from the women with a small shrug.

"I don't know what else to tell him at this point. I apparently did something that Peter didn't like," she sighed, offering Garrus some water but the turian simply shook his head.

"Shepard, despite all of the trouble you know you have to go through on a day-to-day basis…your life is something a lot of people envy." He held up his hand to stop her from commenting, "I know Peter should be happy with the life he's got…but imagine what it's like getting pushed out of the picture by your little sister? You made history forget him and when he returned…well you didn't really need a big brother anymore. It's nothing you did, hell, you would have made a name for yourself despite what happened on Mindoir because that's just who you are. But he needs something to blame. I hope he comes around before it's too late," he huffed as Annie gave a slow nod. It was certainly something that made sense to her. She just wished he didn't have to be so stubborn about it. Annie simply wanted the cliché reunion like in all of the movies. But like the rest of her life, nothing ever went as planned.


	107. Going to the Library

"I think we've got something, Commander," Brooks called from the other room. Annie and Garrus gave one another a lingering glance before calling the rest of the team and heading into the dinning area. "Commander, we've been analyzing those drives and I think we've found something." Annie gave them a nod to let them continue.

"Though the data's root structure was erased, the logic integrity remains viable," EDI explained as different consoles appeared in the center of the table.

"EDI has an incredible talent for this stuff. I know she's an AI, but even still," Brooks noted as Annie felt like she could see Tali's eye roll as the quarian muttered something inaudible.

"We found an encrypted communication from a few days ago," Tali started but Brooks was suddenly quick to jump back into the conversation.

"It should only take us another minute to crack." EDI and Tali both looked at one another as Brooks typed away on the console.

"A whole minute?" Joker exclaimed in his naturally sarcastic tone. "EDI here could shave that down to five seconds."

"And then Tali could have given us an exact location," Garrus chimed in as the two men laughed. Tali simply shook her head, ignoring their comments as EDI went on her normal route of explaining exactly what she was intending.

"I thought it best to allow Staff Analyst Brooks a chance to improve her decryption skills."

"Her records show there's little need for improvement," Liara muttered next to Annie, making the commander raise a curious brow. Liara was known for poking around in stranger's business – it was her job to know everything she could about a situation – but it seemed she was holding something back. Or maybe there really was nothing for her to be concerned about with Brooks except for the feeling in her stomach. It was certainly surprising to see Liara so defensive around someone like Brooks. It just wasn't normal.

"Well now you've both lost your chance to show off," Joker continued but surprisingly Brooks didn't seem bothered by the banter as she gave a small chuckle.

"Like you need to. You're the crew of the Normandy. You're legends to the rest of the Alliance. You're the kind of legends people look up to. The kind they owe their lives to." The group glanced at one another, sharing a few more lines of priceless banter before the attention was turned back to Brooks. "And the camaraderie, the friendship? I think that's your secret weapon."

"It's all just part of the job," Annie said casually but she had to admit she appreciated hearing it. Certainly during a time like this it wasn't said enough. Sure, she knew it was arrogant to ask for it, but it helped with morale to know that people were paying attention. That she wasn't just expected to risk life and limb without a few good thoughts in her direction.

The console then changed to another screen, clearly finished going through the data as the conversation quickly shifted. "Wow. Those mercs who were after you? They bought a lot of weapons. Like, big ones," Brooks remarked as the hologram of an atlas appeared.

"Mecs? What do they need that kind of firepower for?" Ashley asked as Annie's brow furrowed only for Glyph to drift into their conversation, flashing and dancing like it was about to explode.

_I have just monitored the commander's Spectre access code in use at the Citadel Archives._ The schematics appeared on the table, showing red in certain areas.

"The archives are going into emergency lockdown. Whoever's hacking your records is there right now!" Brook exclaimed. "These archives are huge. You'll have a lot of ground to cover. Shame you can't bring everyone." Brooks response sounded…odd, almost rehearsed. But Annie didn't have the time to question the woman.

"Who says we can't? All hands on deck. Liara and Wrex, you're with me," both friends seemed to do their best at giving a humble cheer as Annie rolled her eyes. "Garrus, you'll lead team one with Tali, Ash, and Vega. Cortez, you've got team two with EDI, Javik, and Brooks." The woman gave her a surprised look as Annie smirked; "You're not wiggling out of this now, Brooks." The team split, collecting their desired equipment before piling into their shuttles and making their way to the archives.

Apparently the archives housed information that the Council knew was important but didn't want the galaxy to know about. There were personnel files and historic documents. Annie could only hope that there wasn't anything in there on defeating the Reapers…because if there was she was going to have quite the tantrum.

They blew their way into the area below the wards, splitting into teams as Annie, Liara, and Wrex headed down into the lower parts of the archives. For once they were going for a much more direct attack in hopes that they wouldn't expect it. But honestly, no matter which way they walked into this place those cowards that were CAT6 would be dealing with a small army of well-trained opponents. And a krogan.

But the moment they set foot into what looked like main room they were targeted by laser sights. Apparently they weren't providing much of a surprise. Unfortunately for the mercenaries, once Annie and her team set to work the mercenaries quickly realized they were in a little over their heads…except for one of Annie's teammates.

"That's enough!" Came a distant voice from the top of a balcony. They were holding a pistol to Brooks's temple as Annie sneered. "Drop your weapons, or this won't end well for her!" Annie glanced at her team and then back up at Brooks. Sometimes she wished she could be a little more ruthless as she slowly placed her riffle on the ground and signaled her team to do the same.

Brooks was then tossed to the ground, scurrying back towards Annie and raising her hands up to show she wasn't armed like the rest of the team. "Whatever you think you're getting away with there's nowhere you can run, nowhere you can hide where we can't find you." Annie threatened only to hear a very unsettling chuckle from the mysterious figure at the top of the balcony.

"Hide? Why?" She stepped into view and Annie felt a wave of complete surprise crash against her as she stared at an exact copy of herself. "I'm Commander Shepard. I never hide."


	108. Looking into a Mirror

She jumped down from her perch and made a very calm walk towards Annie. From what the commander could see she certainly looked similar to her. Each piece of hair was in the same place; every freckle was perfectly dusted across her nose. But this couldn't be. It wasn't possible. When had she given anyone enough of her DNA to produce an exact replica? "Who are you?" She asked as the stranger smirked, shifting onto her back leg and crossing her arms over her chest.

"You weren't the only Shepard that Cerberus brought back to life. Now at least one of us will finally do something with the second chance." Cerberus…of course. She knew it was too good to be true to think the Illusive Man didn't have a back up plan during her two year long surgery. "Cerberus spared no expense resurrecting you. With me. I was created for spare parts in case you needed another arm, or a heart, or a lung." She paced back and forth, the action unsettling to Annie, as she knew she did the same all the time. This just didn't seem possible. "I was in a coma up until six months ago. While you were in a jail cell on Earth, I was learning to be human. Amazing what a person can do with enough neutral implants."

This was crazy, but maybe she could make this turn out for the better. Maybe this was just a misunderstanding that Annie could fix with some logical conversation. "If you're really me, then we're on the same team."

"We're not even in the same league," Annie blinked at the clone's words. Did she really sound like that when she was threatening someone? Maybe that was the real reason her friends were so entertained by her banter.

"Did the Illusive Man send you?" Annie really didn't want to have to deal with the Illusive Man, though seeing Kai Leng would be nice. It would add the cherry on the top of this exceedingly weird shore leave Sunday.

"No. He abandoned me when he had what he wanted. You."

"Then why are you trying to kill us?" Liara exclaimed, stepping forward as Annie's clone smirked, giving a long look over Liara's figure.

"Because I don't have her memories. I'd never fool my supposed friends…the ones who abandoned their duty to join the cult of Shepard." Her smirk widened as Annie took a defensive step between the two, the clone shifting her gaze to the commander before back to Liara. "Like you, Doctor T'Soni. You're nothing more than a college cheerleader pretending to be a soldier. I can't even see what it is she likes so much about you. It can't be what you look like naked." Liara struggled behind Annie, trying to get past the brick-wall of a woman so she could give the clone a piece of her mind. But it was clear the clone was just trying to get a rise out of them.

"You're just a pale imitation of the real thing!" Liara hissed, the phrase seeming to upset the clone as she leaned closer.

"I'm the real thing perfected." She hissed as her gaze shifted back to Annie before she took a step backwards. "I'm you without the wear and tear, Shepard. The doubts, the failures. I'm the lone wolf you were always meant to be…without the emotional baggage holding me down," she glanced around at Annie's friend as the commander frowned deeply.

"No one will believe you're me," Annie remarked, crossing her arms over her chest but the clone didn't seem bothered.

"They will when I'm flying her ship." Annie blinked, quickly pressing her fingers to her comm-unit.

"This is Shepard! Initiate Normandy lockdown! Transmitting command code now!" Annie brought up her omni-tool but the moment she sent out the codes her clone blocked them.

"Traynor, this is Shepard. Prep the Normandy for emergency departure. We're leaving," the clone announced as Annie gave a frustrated growl. She was forced to watch her send the command codes and then receive confirmation from Traynor.

"It'll be a cold day in hell before someone steals my ship," Annie snapped as the clone leaned close, barely a breath away.

"It's not stealing if I'm you," she whispered, placing a degrading peck on the tip of Annie's nose before pulling away and starting to walk towards the doors. "Execute them," she ordered. "The cult of Shepard ends today."

But Annie refused to be placed in a firing line as she glanced above her. A hanging glass structure of the Citadel – complete with lights – sat comfortably above her head. Annie looked towards Liara and Wrex out of the corner of her eye, hoping they would get the message. She knelt down, gripping her discarded pistol and firing three shots into the length of one of the Citadel's arms, rolling backwards as it crashed to the floor. Immediately a firefight erupted in the room, as the CAT6 mercenaries were startled and seemingly unable to adjust to such a change of plans. There was a reason one didn't hire people like this. They were the runts of the litter and would never change.

Annie panted as the fight finally ended, glancing up at the two teams on the balconies. "I…she…it…the clone is heading deeper into the archives. We'll push forward down here, stay in your teams and give us cover," Annie ordered as they acknowledged and dove into the giant library.

"So Annie…if you were able to turn you clone good, what would you do now that there's two of you?" Liara asked as Annie rolled her eyes, she could only imagine how many times this conversation was going to be brought up now.

"Turn her good? What are you talking about T"Soni? She's absolutely crazy!" Wrex exclaimed as they stepped into the main area of the archives.

"But just imagine the decrease in your work load. You could finally do work and live your life with the complete confidence of your clone talking charge. Plus…" Liara stepped closer, "imagine other possibilities…if the addition of another 'friend' is still on the table for our more intimate moments," Liara whispered.

"Are you asking if I want to have sex with myself? Liara, I can do that just as fine with Mother Palm and her five sisters," Annie remarked, gesturing to her hand. "Though…" she glanced towards Liara's blushing face with a small smirk, "I guess I am flattered that you'd rather have two of me than someone else." Wrex gave a low chuckle, quickly making Liara move on with the conversation by taking point and going silent. It was rare that Wrex was able to get away with something like that around Liara, especially with how much more confident and quick-minded Liara had become over the years. But they were always known for giving each other as much trouble as possible.


	109. Lots of Terrible Banter

"So what do you think she's trying to find?" Wrex asked as Annie looked down the rows of computers.

"She's probably looking for my file. It'll have all information she'd need to pass as me," Annie explained, pressing her back to the wall, carefully curling around it. Quickly she aimed through her riffle, taking out one of the two mercs waiting around for them to approach. Instantly another massive firefight exploded on the floor as Wrex went charging towards a nearby CAT6 merc.

"You're file is several floor downs. They keep information on Spectres even more private than the rest of the information in this place." Liara remarked as Annie nodded, ducking back behind cover as a guardian approached their hiding spot. Without needing to speak, Liara tossed a ball of biotic energy at his feet, throwing him off balance as Annie hurdled herself over the desk, slamming the sole of her boot into the center of the shield. He fell onto his back as Annie drew out her pistol and fired through the tiny slot in the top.

"Then we need to see how far along she is. I'm not letting her get away with this," Annie growled as Liara rested her hand on her lover's shoulder.

"No matter what happens, she can't get away with this. Everyone in positions of power won't believe it's you. We'll all make sure of it," she promised before calling Glyph into the fray.

"Glyph, locate the target," Annie ordered as the drone tilted up and down, seeming to nod.

_Commander, what is the nature of this target? _ The info drone asked.

"She looks like me."

_Then I have located the target,_ it suddenly announced as Liara yanked Annie down and back into covered. Annie huffed; she could certainly see why technology was getting more annoying.

"Glyph," Liara began, "we need you to find the woman that looks like Annie. She isn't Annie, just looks like her…and has the same genetics. She should be a floor or so further down than us." This time the drone seemed to understand more as it flew off, hopefully in search of Annie's evil twin.

Suddenly Annie's omni-tool started to blink like a call was coming through. She didn't have time for this. If it was important they would find a better way to contact her. Right now she was in the middle of stopping her clone from taking over her own life. Annie's head was starting to hurt with all of this. She had to wonder how her clone had become so sour about the rest of the world. If they had similar genetics then they had to have had a similar personality somewhere inside of them. But maybe the fact that she was exposed to something different, that she was exposed to a world where she was considered to always be second best…maybe this was how Annie would have reacted. Maybe if Anderson hadn't saved her all those years ago she would have held spite towards the rest of the world. It was an interesting thought to consider. And maybe it could give her a bit of a leverage point for the next time she came up against her clone.

They charged through rows after rows of vaults. Annie could see Liara hesitating every so often, almost debating on if Annie wouldn't notice if she just slipped away. Admittedly the commander hated it when they were in situations like this. It was why they spent the few weeks immediately after defeating Saren on Ilos. She could tell that it was killing the asari to be near such historically amazing material but be unable to do anything about it. Though Annie wasn't sure she would enjoy wandering around after Liara in here as much as she did on Ilos. At least on Ilos they had their own private shelter for when Annie was able to pull Liara away.

Suddenly they came around a corner and Annie's comm-unit was filled with chatter from her team, begging for assistance. The mercenaries had pinned them down on some scaffolding. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't planned on Annie as she gestured towards Wrex and Liara. They two nodded and moved to the far end of their perch as Annie aimed down the scope of her riffle. Every so often Liara would toss a man in the air and Annie would fire them back into the ground. Then Wrex would pop up, slamming a mercenary against some crates, shifting just enough to the side so Annie would snipe a bullet right into the mercenary's helmet. But it wasn't enough.

They were forced to charge in as Annie helped her team get up on a nearby ladder, hoping the added elevation would remedy this situation. But just as it was her turn to start climbing her entire team lined up on the edge of the platform and fired down on the mercenaries. It was a massacre.

"That's why I love hanging out with you guys! Why shoot something once when you can shoot it 46 more times?" Wrex announced as Annie smirked, tugging herself up the ladder with Liara helping her up the last few wrings.

"The…other me can't be far," suddenly her omni-tool started to blink again with a call. The team gave her a confused look as Annie grumbled several annoyed words and ignored the call. "Keep up the pressure," she continued, "and we'll try to surround her. Let's move." Everyone nodded, going their own separate ways as Annie and her team focused on moving forwards.

"Who is it that keeps calling you?" Wrex asked as they stepped by a few holographic videos of past exchanges between humans and turians.

"I have no idea," Annie muttered, curling her body around a wall, riffle raised and ready to shoot if need be.

"They shouldn't be able to get to you, Annie," Liara noted, eyes once again wandering to different sections of the archives. "Taynor and I made sure that your omni-tool had limited access. For reasons like this."

"Well, Brooks did say someone hacked it, so maybe they gave out my frequency."

"Maybe the next time they call you should pick up. It could be someone important," Liara offered as if she knew who was on the other side of the poorly timed phone calls. But Annie didn't have a chance to question it as another firefight broke out in the middle of the floor, forcing Annie and her team to duck through archives and other holograms. It was certainly one of the more interesting places that she'd had to survive. At least here she could say she was learning some things at the same time.

Of course, despite everything going on, Annie's team still had the audacity to throw around terrible jokes. Admittedly, though, Annie couldn't help giving a snicker or two.

"This is almost unfair!" Tali shouted from the balcony above, "Shouldn't we give them more of a chance?"

"Just keep following Annie's point while we keep doing the heavy lifting!" Liara shouted from her cover.

"Touché, T'Soni!" Garrus shouted back from not too far away as Annie gave a very large eye roll.

"Whenever you children want to start hitting something would be fine with me," Annie responded.

"Oops, I think we hurt the legend's feelings," Garrus noted as Annie simply gave a hard laugh and forged onwards.


	110. Something Just Doesn't Feel Right

If there was anything Annie was enjoying it was walking by the archives that included her feats. To know that it was a permanent piece of recorded history was exciting. She felt almost like a little girl whose parents had put her finger painting on the fridge. There really were more than just stories and her reputation to prove to the world who she was as a person. Though, that then made her think about something else. If the archives contained information on things she'd done, then they certainly contained information on her past. And why shouldn't they? She was a Spectre. Annie only wondered just how much information they included.

_Commander,_ Glyph announced, back from its search. Unfortunately, being the info drone of Liara T'Soni it seemed as easily distracted as its master. _I have catalogued 18 previously unknown historic events._

"Where's the target, Glyph?" Annie asked, hoping it would have an answer.

_She is searching for a secret vault. She did not wish to be disturbed._

"What?" Annie hissed, though it was clear her annoyance would never transfer through to the VI.

_I thought she was you._

"Go find her again," Annie ordered as the VI gave a nod of acknowledgement before whizzing off again.

"Sorry, Glyph's not a combat model," Liara tried to explain as Annie chuckled. No it certainly wasn't but it was always amusing to watch Liara and Glyph converse between one another. She seemed very aware that it was just a VI but every so often Annie would catch Liara treating Glyph more like a person, even a bit like her child. It was sweet. But Annie just wished Liara could teach the info drone a bit more common sense.

They continued down floor after floor, fighting off mercenary after mercenary. It was certainly the most interesting trip to a library Annie had ever had. Plus she couldn't help how much she liked seeing her entire team moving forward through the archives. Maybe they didn't need an army to take out the Reapers. Maybe they could just take them out all by themselves?

As they charged towards a nearby elevator they were immediately swarmed with a mass of heavily armor mercenaries. Annie found herself pinned down, only able to take the every so often shot before having to cover and let her shields recharge. But admittedly, she wasn't worried. With every tossed around joke her team took down one more guy and eventually Annie was able to advance onto the last mercenary, aiming her riffle at him. Without fail he surrendered, dropping his gun and begging for his life.

And then suddenly there was a gunshot and he was down on the ground, blood pooling out from the other side of his head. Annie blinked, looking at the man and then over where the shot had originated to find Liara reloading her pistol. "Sorry, but I've had enough experience to know not to trust a surrender." Annie blinked, surprised at how nonchalant Liara was about the entire exchange. She was still surprising her after all this time. Then again, she probably would continue to surprise Annie for the rest of their lives.

_Commander, the other you wishes to pass on a message,_ Glyph announced as they stepped into yet another section of the archives. _'Shepard, save yourself the trouble. Once I have what I came for, you won't matter anymore.'_ Her clone's voice vibrated through the drone as Annie gritted her teeth together. She didn't like how this woman thought, and that worried Annie in a way. When they came face-to-face Annie was worried she was going to have to pull the trigger on her own clone. This galaxy wasn't big enough for two Commander Shepard's, and it certainly didn't have room for one that was even crazier than the original.

Though, as they began to change floors again Annie found she could no longer contact one of her teams. She tried again but nothing as they headed into another room. "There's team Mako," Liara announced, pointing to the balcony above. Cortez and James had taken the liberty of naming of naming their teams as team Mako and team Hammerhead.

_We'll cover you from up here. Team Hammerhead has moved on ahead,_ Brooks announced, helping ease some of Annie's tension towards being unable to contact team Hammerhead. Maybe there was just too much interference? She didn't know what was down here.

But then, only moments after Tali announced that Mako was moving in on the target, their signal went dead. Something didn't feel right.

As they headed to the next floor, though, Annie found herself distracted by a particularly interesting entry. Her own. Wrex moved off to check the perimeter, as Annie watched the hologram explain her accomplishments, on becoming the first human Spectre and saving the Citadel. But then a voice recording began to play between Hackett and what sounded like the Asari Councilor.

_It's not her motives that are in question here, Admiral. It's her past that we are concerned of._ There was a pause in the response as Annie stared at her holographic self.

_Commander Shepard was born on the Mindoir colony to Alexander and Martha Fiore as Eleanor Annie Fiore. She was the middle child to her other brother Peter and younger brought Jean. At the age of ten slavers attacked the colony and both of her parents were killed in the crossfire. She and her siblings were taken from their home to be sold off. Her older brother was able to escape when pirates attacked his vessel during transit. His whereabouts are unknown. Her younger brother was assumed to be either killed or kidnapped during the attack. Shepard was sold off to Mira T'Leek where she served the woman for three years till Mira was killed by the hand of Captain Anderson. Anderson placed Shepard into a rehabilitation facility where she remained till the age of sixteen. She negotiated an agreement with Captain Anderson that she would only agree to leave the center on the grounds that her identity was changed and her past hidden. After remaining in foster care for two more years Shepard enlisted into the military where she has shown dedication and discipline since._

Annie bowed her head, turning it away as Liara rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. So they knew. She was naïve to think that the Council wouldn't find away. Apparently the people she reported simply chose to over look where she had come from. Annie couldn't tell if it was something she appreciated or not.

_Commander do you copy!_ Brooks panic-filled voice clipped through Annie's comm-unit. _The other you is jamming our radios! Hammerhead and Mako are trying to move on and cut her off. But I've been hit and need help! Please hurry!_ Annie pulled in a sharp breath as she moved through the facility, trying to get to Brooks. She shouldn't have brought the woman along.

But just as they headed into what Annie hoped to be that last checkpoint another phone call began to beep on her omni-tool. Annie looked at Liara, getting a small nod from her as Annie answered the call. "This is Commander Shepard."

_Eleanor! Oh thank God you finally picked up!_ It was Peter and he sounded frantic on the other side.

"Peter? What's wrong?" Brooks voice chirped through her comm-unit again, alerting her that they were close to her clone.

_They're gone! She took them!_

"Who is Peter?"

_Elle and Pip! We came back from the party and they were just gone! _Annie looked towards Liara and Wrex, Brooks again begging her for help.

"Who do you think took them?"

_I don't remember. She said she came with the tickets, showed us some credentials and then we left. Shit, I shouldn't have gone out._

"Okay, just calm down, Peter. I need you to try and remember her name," Annie asked as they continued, stepping into a vault to use as a bridge only suddenly a barrier appeared, capturing the three of them. "Shit, Cortez! Brooks! Is anyone on this frequency?" Annie shouted into her comm-unit, she didn't have time for this.

"The short answer is no," Annie's clone announced, stepping from the far end of the room as Annie fired several frustrated bullets into the kinetic barrier. "The longer answer involves your friends trapped in iridium vaults and forgotten for…well forever."

COMMENTS: Sorry about the delays. I had lots of school work and then needed to get myself back into playing it. Hopefully there won't be anymore breaks in the writing for a while (though I always do tend to go slower when finishing things up).


	111. Betrayal

"Other's know about this. About you. The Alliance will stop you." Annie threatened but her clone didn't seem concerned as she began moving to the side.

"What do you think, Staff Analyst Brooks? Will the Alliance stop us?" The clone exposed Brooks, looking far from injured as she smirked.

_Brooks, that's it. That's her name_, Peter chimed on the other end as Annie gritted her teeth and slammed her fist against the barrier.

"I wouldn't know, I don't actually work for them," Brooks grinned, stepping up to the clones side and leaning her elbow on her shoulder.

"Where the fuck did you take them?!" Annie snapped as Brooks pulled up her omni-tool, a single tap of a button and the call with Peter was ended.

"I have to admit, your cheerleader certainly knows a lot more about getting around firewalls. I thought I had your omni-tool covered. But no matter," Brooks remarked, giving a tired huff. "And don't worry about the little brats. They're unharmed. Maybe a little shell-shocked, but they'll survive."

"Who the hell _are _you? And do you really think I won't track you down?" Annie hissed, beginning to pace in the small cage.

"My name doesn't matter. I never keep the same one for more than a few days. And if the Illusive Man hasn't found me yet, you never will." Annie sneered; she knew she smelled something sour about Brooks. Liara must've known it too. Brooks had been a part of Cerberus, which must've been how she got her hands on Annie's clone.

"I knew your records seemed too fake," Liara announced as Brooks smirked.

"And yet you did nothing about it, Doctor T'Soni. So easily distracted when you get to show off. A lot like the Illusive Man…though, Mr. Illusive and I didn't see eye to eye. He's indoctrinated where as I prefer the whispers in my head to by my own." Annie could swear she heard a soft growl from Liara at Brooks's words.

"Why didn't you just come to me? We could've have worked together!" Annie asked the woman, but it was clear their companionship wouldn't have worked with Brooks the ex-Cerberus operative.

"In a way we did. I'm the one who put together all those dossiers on your 'suicide mission.' There was the salarian doctor, the asari justicar, the drell. They were all mistakes. We were a pro-human group who stated looking to aliens for help. So I bided my time, and when I found another you who agreed…I woke her up."

"Then what was the point of all of this?" Annie asked. She needed to know more about this for when they got out. She needed to know their plan so she could stop it and save Elle and Pip. It was killing her to just be standing and talking, but she couldn't deny that it was sometimes the best way to get information.

"All we really wanted was your Spectre code," Brooks admitted. "But then you survived the hit and insisted on bringing your damned asari into it, so I had to tie up loose ends." Annie frowned, thinking back to the party and finding Elijah dead. It made so much more sense now that Annie couldn't help how angry she was at herself. Brooks had been trying to tell them things were impossible since the beginning of this, she'd been trying to slow them down. "But then your sex bot and walking biohazard just had to go and recover the data. So here we are, forced to…contain the situation."

"And so then why go after Peter? Why go after Elle and Pip?" Annie hissed, doing her best to keep her hand from punching the barrier again out of frustration. Brooks simply smirked, leaning close.

"They're a sort of…back up plan. I'd been hoping your brother would distract you but it seems you two have more family issues than expected. It's amazing how easily someone can trust a woman in uniform," she commented as Annie tried to think of when Brooks possibly had the time. All she could think of was during her run through the Citadel. Brooks was no where to be found and once she got Peter and Mika out of the house, it wouldn't matter who showed up to drag them away. "So, in case of some miracle you come after us…just know whose lives you're putting at risk." Annie slammed her palm against the barrier, making Brooks jump slightly before shifting back with an amused grin.

"The minute…the second I get out of here, I'm going to take your head and mount it in the Normandy CIC." Brooks and the clone gave one another a sideways glance, seeming amused by the threat as Annie continued. "Then I'm gonna mount her head next to yours! Then I'm going to take both of your heads and space them out the airlock!"

"That sounds very dramatic. And if someone like, say Commander Shepard made the threat, I'd be worried. But you're not Shepard. Not anymore. Plus…that sounds very violent. I might even say scaring if there were any children around," Brooks grinned as Annie slammed her palm against the barrier again.

"You had Miranda, I have her. Mine has more bite." Clone Shepard remarked but Annie couldn't help the hard laugh.

"You mean yours is a little more crazy! Actually, I'm happy for you two, you'll make a great couple." The clone rolled her eyes, stepping away as Brooks shook her head.

"Well it was fun while it lasted," she announced as the clone stepped up to a console.

"What are you doing?" Annie asked as her clone began typing away.

"Setting things right. Remember this?" A recording of the Council accepting Annie as the first human Spectre played. "Except somewhere along the way you forgot about your entire species. You've saved more alien lives than you have human."

"I don't care what species they are," Annie hissed. "Every life counts, but maybe a clone wouldn't understand that." And yet the clone simply chuckled, the insult seeming to make no mark.

"You know the one thing they can't duplicate? Our handprint. Life gives it its shape, not DNA…which is a problem." The clone pressed a few more keys on the console. "Computer, update Council records. Subject: Shepard, human Spectre." She was then prompted with the Spectre codes as the clone put them in and then was told to update the information. Annie watched helplessly as the clone scanned in her own handprint, officially replacing Annie as the original Commander Shepard. "Now," the clone huffed, turning towards the door. "If you'll excuse me, the Normandy needs its captain. So…" she glanced back over her shoulder at Annie and her team, "I should go." Annie raised a confused brow. Did she really say things like that?

"Farewell, Commander. I guess this is where 'legends' go to die," Brooks remarked before both women headed back through the far door. And then the vault Annie and her team were trapped in slid inside a container and were added to the thousands that made up the archives.

"Refresh my memory: Didn't we used to win these things back in the old days?" Wrex asked as Annie turned on her suits flashlight. But Annie had to admit she was still a little thrown off by her clone's departure speech.

"She said, 'I should go.' Do I sound like that?"

"As long as I've known you, yeah." Wrex shrugged.

"Maybe we should be worrying about the impregnable vault we've been sealed inside forever…" Liara remarked.

"Speaking of impregnable, I don't want you two getting too cozy in here," Wrex commented.

"How come nobody told me this before? I'm open to feedback here," Annie pushed, ignoring Wrex's and Liara's comments as if she had nothing to be concerned about.

"Well I thought all humans said it, like some weird earth custom or something," Wrex explained, seeming much more open to adding to the conversation than Liara.

"I doubt there's enough air in here, either. An hour at most," Liara continued to panic, her breathing already becoming quick and short in the small space.

"Maybe it's: I should _go_, I _should_ go, _I_ should go," Annie muttered to herself.

"Annie!" Liara snapped, gripping the woman's face, "I love you and I'd love to have this exhilarating conversation later but why aren't you more worried about this?" Annie seemed lost in thought for a moment before snapping back with a smile that wasn't particularly appropriate for the situation.

"Glyph, you still out there?"

_Yes, Commander_, Liara blinked at Glyph's response.

"Unlock this damned thing, and go find the others. No one steals my ship. Not even me."

"You did it again," Wrex commented as Annie shifted her gaze away from Liara to give Wrex a scowl. She'd have to deal with how she presented her one-liners later.


	112. Saved by Dental Hygiene

Several minutes passed and soon enough Annie was helping all of her teammates back out the hole they'd created to initially get into the archives. She had to admit she was relieved to finally breathe some fresh air. In such a small capsule it was very easy to start smelling just how…fresh Wrex was. Hell, that was half the reason Annie kept Grunt in the cargo bay so that he wouldn't have to infect the rest of the Normandy with his "perfect krogan" scent.

Joker touched down nearby, obviously panicked that someone was trying to steal his ship. Quickly Annie gestured towards Wrex and Liara to follow her into the cab. They would head to the ship while the rest of her team would try to get C-Sec involved, maybe set up some sort of barricade. If only the Normandy was big enough for all of them to charge on. Then this wouldn't be so difficult. But Annie had to be careful. She needed to find Elle and Pip and make sure they were safe before going after her clone. The last thing she needed was for them to get caught in the crosshairs.

"This is why I hate shore leave," Joker grumbled during the ride. "I swear, you park the ship for five minutes…"

"Can you contact Citadel flight control and get them to deny the departure request?" Annie interrupted.

"Tried. All the comm lines in the area are jammed…probably to make it easier for them to steal my ship!" Joker exclaimed, vigorously swerving the shuttle around some scaffolding. For the best pilot in the galaxy…he was a pretty poor shuttle driver.

"What happens if we lose the Normandy? Or Elle and Pip? Couldn't we go to the Council and prove who you are?" Liara begged.

"No," Wrex answered, "she changed logs to make her biometrics the official ones. We can't prove anything."

"Don't worry, we'll stop her," Annie promised, looking down at her hands. She had to stop her. That clone had made this personal. In truth, she didn't care about her stealing her identity; it wouldn't be the first time in Annie's life she would have to change who she was. But kidnapping her brother's children was something Annie wasn't going to let go of. Her clone would pay for this, both of them would.

They were dropped off a little ways away from the Normandy due to the Citadel's security systems. Annie didn't care, she was focused in on their destination and after bashing and shooting their way through the small army trying to stop them, they clambered onto the docking bay to the ship.

"And I don't even…" Traynor muttered as she stepped off the ship, turning and coming face-to-face with Annie. "Wait, what? You were just on the Normandy. You…you fired me! Dishonorable discharge for conduct unbecoming! You kicked me off the ship with barely enough time to grab my toothbrush!"

"That's a Cision Pro Mark 4. It uses mass effect fields to break up plaque and massage the gums." Annie gestured to the toothbrush in Traynor's fist as the woman gave her a confused look, seemingly unsure if she should still be upset or not.

"Yes…I told you that."

"And I remember, because I'm the real Shepard," Annie explained, a little rushed for time at this point.

"And someone just threw me off the ship. If it wasn't you…"

"Shepard's got a clone. Makes sense if you think about it," Wrex remarked over his shoulder. Both Liara and Wrex had moved off to try and work on the door to see if they could override the lock.

"Look, I'll explain more later but right now is there anyone else on the ship that can help us?" Shepard asked as Traynor shook her head.

"No, I was only there because I helped with the Normandy retrofits back on Earth. Everyone else is on shore leave." For once Annie couldn't help but be happy about Traynor's obsession with her work. Annie gripped Traynor's shoulders, looking at her close.

"Did you see any kids when they came on board?" Annie asked as Traynor looked around before focusing in on the commander and giving a quick nod of her head.

"I heard crying when they came aboard but didn't get a good look at them before I was thrown off. But I know a way on board. There should be an emergency hatch over there," she gestured towards it as Liara and Wrex inspected the slate of metal, pulling it up to expose the hatch.

"Manual lock and it's only opened from the other side," Liara commented as she scanned it with her omni-tool. "I could try a biotic field, but I don't think I have the fine control required to trigger it." Annie never considered that Liara had any limits, but right now was the worst time to find out as they heard the Normandy began to settle and prepare to set off.

It was then Traynor lifted her fancy toothbrush and turned it on, the bristles immediately lighting up. Annie smirked and gave an overly enthusiastic kiss on Traynor's lips, plucking the toothbrush from her hands as she left the Specialist stunned. "You're a lifesaver, Samantha," Liara gave her a bit of an annoyed glance but the look on Traynor's face was amusing enough to ignore what had happened as they broke into the hatch.

They climbed as quietly as possible through the duct – which wasn't saying much considering Wrex. "If you'd told me this morning that a toothbrush was going to save the Normandy, I'd have been very skeptical," Annie muttered back towards Liara.

"If you'd told me you were going to spend your entire shore leave kissing another woman I might not have come along," Liara teased as Annie rolled her eyes. They held still for a moment, feeling the Normandy pull away and take them with it. Now she just needed to get back in control of the vessel and find Elle and Pip. They were somewhere on this ship.

"Pretty sure we broke Traynor's toothbrush getting the hatched open. Remind me to reimburse her for that," Annie noted as they approached the underside of the CIC.

"All right. Babe?" Liara cooed from behind her as Annie gave another large roll of her eyes.

"_Later_, remind me later," she stressed, shaking her head at the woman as they stopped just by the hatch, looking up through the grates. The place was packed with mercenaries. They would need to come in hot. But she couldn't see the kids, nor hear them, and that made Annie nervous.

Either way they exploded out of the hatch as Annie stabbed her omni-blade into the back of one of the mercenaries, using him as a human shield while Liara took out the man trying to flank her. Wrex charged towards a guardian, knocking him and a few other mercenaries back. They couldn't let up or they would surround them. It was exhausting but eventually they came out on top, unfortunately, though the pilot had locked himself in the cockpit. The only way to get him out would be to take back control of the ship. Which would require getting access to the manual controls of the ship. If only they hadn't disconnected EDI this would've been a whole lot easier.

A mercenary gurgled on the floor near her as Annie knelt down, gripping the collar of his armor an lifting him a few inches off the floor. "Where is she?" Annie hissed as the man coughed and wheezed in his helmet.

"She's downstairs…waiting for you."

"And where are the kids?" The man started to go slack in her hands as Annie gave a firm shake to keep him awake. "Where are the kids?" She stated again as the man gave another blood-filled cough.

"With her…" he exhaled, dying in her hand as Annie shoved him to the ground. Annie stood, looking back at Liara and Wrex.

"We're going in slow. I want eyes on Elle and Pip. Get them out and up to my cabin. I'll focus on her," Annie announced as the two nodded, following Annie into the elevator on the far side of the room.

"Ready?" Wrex asked as Annie rolled her shoulders, trying to prepare herself for the showdown that was about to occur.

"Absolutely," Liara remarked casually as Wrex gave a chuckle.

"No worrying? No emotional concerns? You've grown up T'Soni."

"Killing people gets less troubling after the first few hundred."

"It does indeed." It was a bit of a morbid confession but it was certainly a true one. After so many people died by their hands it was hard to remember the faces. Which was what made the ones that stuck with Annie even more painful to see, because those had been the ones that mattered. Everyone else was just cattle for the slaughter.


	113. Making a Choice

They stepped out of the elevator, guns raised, but no fire came. Slowly they crept out, the only sound breaking the silence was the every so often sniffle from a distant corner as Annie's clone stepped into view. She'd put on Annie's old armor, now truly solidifying just how uncomfortable this whole situation was. But all Annie could focus on was how in one hand the clone held a replica riffle to Annie's and in the other had a hand tight around Elle's shoulder. Pip was struggling in the little girl's arms as tears streaked her face.

"You wanna stop shooting up my ship?" The clone asked as Annie sneered.

"It's not your ship."

"It will be! I've taken your name, your Spectre rank, even your fingerprints!" Annie took a step forward and immediately the clone responded by aiming the end of her riffle at Elle. She smirked, "Even your brother's children. You've gone soft, _Eleanor_. From what I read you used to be quite the ruthless soldier. That's why you don't ally yourself with aliens."

"Just let them go, this is between us," Annie stated as her clone laughed, kneeling down so she was at the same height as Elle.

"But I think your little niece should hear about the type of woman you are. About how many people you've killed," she grinned as Annie glanced towards Liara and then at Wrex. They gave one another a small nod as Annie took in a deep breath and slowly lowered her riffle to the floor.

"Maybe she should know how you left me to die…only I didn't. You think fake fingerprints are going to fool the Council? Or Hackett? I've already changed my identity once; it's not a hard thing to fix. Just let them go." She stated, raising her hands to show she wasn't armed. The clone looked at Liara and Wrex who hadn't moved before shoving Elle forward as she raised her riffle and started to back peddle. Elle ran towards Annie as the commander wrapped her arms around her and moved back towards the elevator. "If you really want to be me you should know that I would never risk an individual's family. Whether I was this old Annie that you speak of or the new one," she sneered ushering Elle into the elevator and selecting her cabin before stepping back into the room.

Liara and Wrex had moved once Elle was safe, they'd started moving up the sides of the cargo bay as Annie moved towards her riffle. "So how's that big plan of yours going now?" Annie hissed, glancing out of the corner of her eye as her clone swung down her omni-blade. The commander rolled out of the way, picking up her riffle in the process and raising it to deflect another swing. At that attack Brooks immerged, calling forth more CAT6 mercenaries. But Annie only had eyes for her clone. She wasn't going to let her get away with this.

Suddenly the ship started to shift and shake as Joker and Cortez set off with "Plan B." B stood for bait. Cortez was driving the shuttle with Joker as a passenger (for good reason) while they kept the Normandy from leaving Citadel space. Unfortunately, in order to do that they had to force the Normandy to fly low and swerve around the station's tall buildings. Being a woman who required a stable platform to make the most out of her shots…she didn't appreciate it that much. And on top of that, to solve the problem the clone had them send out the shuttle to shoot down the skycar. That left the large doors to the cargo bay wide open to the long fall below.

"My team is just as good as yours!" The clone shouted as she grabbed Annie from behind, wrapping her arm tightly around Annie's throat.

"A team? You have minions," Annie wriggled in her grasp before finally snapping her head back. The clone yelped and released as Annie spun around and kicked her boot into the woman's chest, forcing her to stumble back. "And you're running out."

The clone threw a handful of fire at Annie, hitting her in the shoulder. She ignored the burn, charging towards the woman and tackling her through the open door and onto the ramp. They rolled and slid down towards the edge, both of them trying to beat the other in the short distance they had remaining. Annie stopped them just before the edge, punching into the clone's nose as she heard a satisfying snap of the bridge. The clone grunted, kicking up and knocking Annie onto her back but before she could go on the offensive the ship shifted and the two rolled off the edge, both of them barely holding on.

"Look at you. What makes you so damned special?" The clone grunted, trying to find any sort of hold on the smooth ramp. "Why you and not me!" Suddenly Liara and Wrex were at the top of the ramp. Wrex gripped a nearby lip, grabbing onto Liara's ankle as the asari stretched towards Annie. The commander took her hand, pulling herself up as the clone looked towards Brooks. But the woman simply stood there, considering the risk, and then deciding it wasn't worth it as she turned away. Annie couldn't help the pain she felt towards the woman. Clone or not, betrayal was never a good feeling.

So maybe what she was about to do was stupid, but she couldn't just let her die. "Here, take my hand," Annie offered as the clone looked up at it and then up at Annie.

"And then?"

"And then you live!"

"For what?" And then she let go, her body tumbling towards the Citadel below. Annie found it hard to look away as a sickening sensation built up in her stomach. So much hatred had made that woman believe death was better than a different life. Yes, maybe she had been more like her clone at one point in life. Maybe she had seen the relief of taking her own, but no longer. Now she just felt sad for her.

The Normandy was brought back to the docking bay and the sole remaining CAT6 merc (the pilot) and Brooks were taken under custody but EDI and Cortez. Annie had the fortune of getting a good look at her. She could certainly see a bit of Miranda in the woman, but fortunately Miranda was much better than this.

"C-Sec will be taking her to a high security Alliance facility, see if they can get some dirt on Cerberus from her," Joker explained as the woman simply smiled.

"I'll be more than happy to cooperate with the authorities," she cooed.

"Maya, I know that voice," Annie remarked, though she was unable to place it. This woman said she'd moved around constantly, changing her identity at the drop of a hat. Annie wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't spoken or run into Brooks multiple times during her career.

"Do you really?" She hummed as Annie stepped towards her.

"You're getting a chance to redeem yourself. Don't waste it."

"So serious. Admit it. Some part of you like having me around, looking up to the legend," Brooks teased as Annie frowned deeply. "We had some laughs. And who knows? Maybe we'll have more someday. You know you'll miss me," she leaned up on her tip toes getting close to Annie's face but rather than back down Annie shifted closer.

"No, we won't. Because you're going to stay in you cell and do your time."

"Afraid I'll escape, come back for revenge? Is the great Commander Shepard pleading for her life?"

"You attempted to trick, deceive, and eventually murder my team. You kidnapped my brother's children and held them hostage. I'm not pleading for my life. I'm pleading for yours." For a moment Brooks hesitated, seeming to swallow any words that were building up in her chest as Annie took a step back. But with one quick huff Brooks was back to her normal self, a grin still on her face.

"They truly were well behaved up until we had to leave. But either way, I suppose I'm off to lockup." Annie walked away while Cortez checked her cuffs again. "You know, she wouldn't have let me live."

"You're right," Annie remarked as Brooks gave her a lingering gaze. Sure, they looked identical but it was clear that they weren't the same. Annie liked how she was, she liked the woman she had become and the people she had surrounded herself with. She would never want things to change.


	114. She Just Wanted a Nap

Annie made her way up to her quarters, slowly and cautiously opening the door as a small cry came from the far corner. "Elle?" Annie called as the girl very slowly appeared from behind the couch; still holding her brother like her life depended on it. Annie smiled, moving towards the steps in the space and sitting herself down. Slowly the girl emerged more. "Do you know who I am?" The girl very slowly nodded her head.

"You're Aunt Eleanor," she whispered and Annie couldn't help the twist of excitement in her belly as she gave a gentle smile. "Did you stop the other lady?" Annie nodded, patting the spot on the stair next to her.

"I did."

"Papa says you stop lots of bad guys. He says you're a hero," Elle settled down next to Annie, having difficulty adjusting Pip as Annie reached over and carefully picked him up, cradling him in her arms. He gave several more sniffles before seeming to calm as Annie smiled down at the baby, gently running her free hand over his small legs.

"I do what I can," she breathed, looking back down at Elle as the girl looked up with her big eyes.

"Did you kill her?" Annie's smiled fell as she sighed, shaking her head and slowly standing to her feet.

"No, but she made some poor choices…that she chose to run away from."

"How?" Annie swallowed nervously only to look up as EDI – who had been reconnected to the ship once they gotten control of it again – alerted her that they were about to dock.

"Why don't we head downstairs? I'm sure your mama and papa are waiting for you," without a second thought Elle nodded, trotting towards the door and into the elevator as Annie followed with a smile. But as she waited for the elevator to reach the CIC Elle reached up and slid her hand into Annie's her other thumb tucked firmly between her lips.

They excited the Normandy to see Liara standing by Peter and Mika. Liara had contacted them after the fight and as she turned towards Annie her smile widened. Peter and Mika rushed Annie, lifting Elle up as Peter wrapped his arms tightly around her, burying his face into her mess of dark hair as Annie carefully handed over the now sleeping Pip to Mika. "I can't thank you enough, Annie," he breathed as Annie smiled and nodded, Liara moving up towards them to stand next to Annie.

"It's my job," she commented, "I protect the ones I care about." Peter and Annie looked at one another as the man sighed, carefully letting Elle slide back onto the floor.

"About what I said earlier-" Annie held up her hand to stop him.

"I'll be on the Citadel for the next week. I'd be happy to have you all over one evening."

"_We_ would be," Liara corrected as Peter glanced between the two before clearing his throat and giving a nod.

"I'm sure Elle would like that very much," he looked down at his daughter as the girl gave an excited nod of her head. A few more words were shared before the family disappeared, probably heading back to their home.

"Well," Liara huffed, wrapping her hand around Annie's as they made their way towards the nearest landing pad. "As shore leave goes, this so far hasn't been the most relaxing." Annie gave hard laugh.

"Come on, there's still plenty of time for that. No explosions, no gun fire. Just us…and maybe a nice long nap," Liara smirked, sliding her hand up to wrap comfortably around Annie's bicep as they made their way back to the apartment.

But it seemed Annie was the only one that actually wanted a nap. The entire ride Liara whispered blushing-worthy things into Annie's ear and the moment they arrived at the apartment Joker announced that she should throw a party. That was the _last_ thing she wanted. But the pilot was insistent, having already started inviting half of the crew before Annie had any say in the matter. Then again, as she thought about it…that sounded like fun. A little time for everyone to just relax. And even better she could see more than just the friends she saw every day on the Normandy.

"You're not going to dress up at all?" Liara asked as the pair showered in the overly fancy master shower.

"Why should I? Everyone's seen me in my casuals."

"You don't even want to try?" The water was shut off as the pair stepped out and started to dry off.

"Why do you care so much? It's not like I'm trying to impress anyone," Liara rolled her eyes, taking her towel and ruffling it through Annie's hair.

"Or maybe I just want you to not have to wear your military casuals for once." She admitted as Annie picked up on what she was getting at. Even if they were taking a night off Annie was always wearing something that linked her to the Alliance. She could never go somewhere simply as Annie Shepard, it was always Commander Shepard. So maybe she would humor her lover by taking off the dog tags for the night and just enjoying her time with her friends.

By the time Annie had finally gotten down stairs the party had already started. Annie's doorman, Grunt, had apparently gone ahead and let in all those that she'd invited. She trotted down the stairs, wearing much of what she wore when she went to the Afterlife that one time (her wardrobe wasn't that extensive outside of her Alliance uniform). People were mingling and good vibes were pulsing through the entirety of the apartment. She had never had to host one of these things before and half the time she wasn't sure if she should start drinking or try and stay sober in case another clone decided to crash her shore leave.

Though once Garrus handed her a drink, her mind was made up.

Despite all of their serious work, everyone was really good at acting like a bunch of teenagers when the drinks started getting poured. Grunt and Wrex were attempting to see who could head butt the other into submission. The boys were talking about boy things – whatever that was supposed to mean – and the rest of the crew had gathered in the dinning area, dancing along to the electronic music that was pulsing through the apartment.


	115. Party Hard

"Come on, Annie!" Liara called, waving her over as Annie finished off her second drink, already settling into a comfortable buzz as her friends snickered.

"I know you two are in love, but come on T'Soni, no one wants to see Shepard dance," Garrus commented.

"That's just because you're such a nuisance about it," Liara remarked, the alcohol very heavy in the asari's system. "How could someone so acrobatic and flexible not be able to dance? Just think about it!" She exclaimed as Annie chuckled, the group now turned on Annie.

"Don't expect anything surprising," Annie warned as she entered the small space and began to show her "hidden talent." It wasn't anything spectacular but seemed to impress her friends as the night continued.

In only several more minutes the party descended into complete ridiculousness. Ash and James had snuck off somewhere, Grunt and Wrex had almost broken multiple sculptures, and Miranda and Jack were once again attempting to compare their biotic abilities. And at some point Annie noticed a varren running around.

Either way, as Liara continuously pressed up against Annie, the commander decided it was a good time to begin dragging her upstairs. Which wasn't really that difficult to do, except for Liara announcing to the apartment where they were going. But no one seemed particularly bothered, especially since a lot of her team had already broken off into his or her respective pairs. Even Joker was enjoying the "personal" conversation between EDI and Traynor.

If there was anything Annie found to be amusing it was the next morning. She rolled over, wrapping her body around Liara's naked body as the woman gave a low groan. "Do we have to get up?" She whispered as Annie delicately kissed her shoulders with a chuckle.

"But it's such a beautiful morning, especially waking up next to you," she teased as Liara gave a weak giggle and rolled onto her back. Annie shifted so she was looking down at Liara with a small smile.

"You're just saying that so I get out of bed."

"Trust me," Annie leaned close, kissing at her jaw and neck, "getting you out of bed is that last thing I want. But I have to throw all of these people out of my apartment first. So come on, I'm sure there's some sort of tea or something for you here." Liara gave a soft sigh before muttering that she would be up in a few minutes. Annie smiled, dressing as Liara tended to some things in the bathroom.

Everyone was a little slow that morning, unsurprisingly. Annie came up with some sort of half-assed excuse about walking them all to the Normandy as a sort of send off. In truth Annie just wanted some quiet time with Liara so they could enjoy just living like normal people. See how it fit them.

They stepped up to the banister on the docks, looking up at the Normandy. Technically they could get back on – which she figured most people would do – but Annie found herself wanting to hang back. She was curious about this shore leave and admittedly wanted to spend it just doing normal things, like having dinner with family. If she planned on having such a normal life after all of this she would need to test it out first. Make sure she could even play the part of normal.

Liara looped her hand through the crook of Annie's elbow, leaning on the banister next to her. "I suppose we should be getting ready to get back to the fight."

"Yeah…but at least we threw one hell of a party." Annie looked down at Liara's hand, reaching over and resting hers gently on top of it. "Probably our last one," she muttered, almost too quiet for anyone to hear as she found tears building up behind her eye lids.

"You may be right. But whatever happens, I know you'll see this through. And I'll be right there with you," Liara smiled as Annie slowly nodded. A silence settled around them as Liara gripped Annie's hand gently. "We've been through a lot, haven't we? But it's been a good ride."

"The best," Annie smiled, a small tear trickling down her cheek and dripping down the long fall through the Citadel. It had been an amazing ride…and it would continue to be one. She would fight for that. For all of them. Because they had earned it. They had dropped everything going on in their lives and followed her into multiple fires without any question as to why. Annie didn't know if any of them knew how much she appreciated them. She hoped they did. Without them Annie wasn't sure where she would be in this war, probably still as an XO to someone if not Anderson.

Sure, she might've gotten to be a Spectre out of her own skills, but she'd only stayed alive because of her friends. They'd made her life worth living and gave her lives worth protecting during a time like this. She would never forget them and never feel like she could repay them for what they had done in their lives.

After this whole war she would scoop Liara up in her arms and take her to the furthest corners of the galaxy. They would build a life together there, just the two of them, living normal lives as normal people do. They'd have house parties and play dates. It would be mundane and routine, maybe even boring. But admittedly Annie couldn't wait for it. She wanted that normalcy again. She wanted their children to grow up in a world knowing every evening that their mother's would be home to tuck them in. After all of this that's what she would do. She would come home every night to tuck her daughters in and kiss her wife.

Living such a life as her own, changing into one with routine was simply another adventure that Annie couldn't wait to share with Liara.

COMMENTS: Only one chapter today. Sorry about it, I have an exam today so I didn't get the chance to play it any last night. Enjoy


	116. A Hesitant Goodbye

Annie curled around cover, aiming through the enhanced sights of her riffle and firing a well-placed shot into the glass cover of the Atlas. It punctured the shield and imbedded itself in the windshield, startling the Cerberus troop inside. One more shot. But after a quick reload Annie hissed as her sniper riffle overheated in her hands. Out of ammo.

A rocket flew towards her and the commander curled back around cover just in time for it to fly over her shoulder. She glanced up, giving a small smirk and a nod of her head before stepping out of cover. The man in the Atlas gave her a smirk, pressing a multitude of buttons as the Atlas hunkered down and prepared to fire another rocket. The things with Atlases are that they're not exactly meant as any sort of man-to-man support. They're meant as ground control for reasons such as when firing their heavy weapon. It takes exactly twenty-six seconds for the machines to reload, prep, and fire a new rocket. Between Annie and the Atlas was about fifty meters…she could easily beat that.

She pushed off her toes, charging towards the machine, as the man seemed to realize what she was doing. Again he started slamming on buttons around him but the command was set as Annie pushed off her left foot. She hurdled herself towards the gun, landing on it with her right and hopping up onto the windshield. The Cerberus troop fumbled with the handgun on his hip. Sadly, Atlases were not the best when it came to cabin space.

Annie pulled out her omni-blade and smashed it into the imbedded bullet on the glass, shattering the barrier and plunging her blade straight into the top of the man's head. Immediately applause erupted around her as the Atlas disappeared and she fell to the floor, carefully landing on her feet. _The match goes to Commander Shepard! Congratulations on a new arena high score!_ Annie glanced up again, the timer resting comfortably just under ten minutes with the score 9999 glowing beneath it.

The commander exited the arena, still in her armor, as cheers and congratulations from the crowd that had been watching greeted her. But all Annie had her attention on was the small girl shoving her way through all manner of legs. Annie caught Elle in her hands, swinging her high into the air as the girl giggled and laughed, the crowd slowly starting to disperse. "They're saying you broke the score board," Peter commented as Annie rested Elle back down on the ground.

She'd spent the remainder of her shore leave enjoying herself, doing things for fun, which mostly included spending time with Peter and Elle. Mika was back at their apartment taking care of Pip, it was clear she wasn't a fan of the whole arena. And maybe Annie shouldn't be promoting such violence to such a little girl but Elle was excited about it. She enjoyed watching her aunt the hero smashing in virtual skulls.

"Again!" Elle cheered, pressing her face to the glass banister to watch as another match started with a group of untrained players. Annie simply smirked, ruffling the top of the girl's hair as she looked past her brother. And then her stomach fell as she met Liara's gaze. Today was her last day and Annie had been trying to delay it as much as possible.

Peter turned, noticing what Annie was looking at and giving a small sigh. He was still uneasy about them being together, but Peter was willing to be civil for the sake of Elle. "Busy bee," he cooed, kneeling down as his daughter turned to him, "aunt Annie's got to go," he added. They'd attempted to correct Elle during the little vacation but the closest they got was having her simply recognize that aunt Eleanor and aunt Annie were the same person. Annie couldn't really complain it was just nice for the girl to recognize her.

"For how long?" Elle asked as Annie knelt down with the pair, reaching over and smoothing her hand over the top of Elle's hair, curling some of the mess around her ear.

"I don't know, Elle. But I promise the moment I have a chance to see you again I will," she smiled; holding out her arms to the girl as she quickly embraced the woman. She was sparky, a lot like her father had been as a child, constantly trying to take in everything around her as quickly as possible.

Annie pecked the top of Elle's head before standing up with Peter. The man gave a small huff and for a moment she could swear she saw the lingering signs of tears in his eyes. But she didn't have much chance to look closer as he tugged her close, gripping her tightly. "You come back," he whispered in her ear as Annie gave a soft nod of her head and held herself tight to her older brother. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, simply hold him as the rest of the world moved on around them.

Quickly Annie cleared her throat, pulling away as she gave Elle another ruffle of her hair before walking towards Liara. Her armor would have to be dealt with while on the Normandy. They were quiet on their walk towards the shuttle, simply looking like two women taking a casual stroll through the strip. But they were hesitant, slow, seeming to drag out the walk as long as possible till they had to climb into a skycar and zip off to the docking bay.

"Good shore leave?" Liara asked as Annie drove the shuttle around traffic.

"Yup. You?"

"Yes, of course," there was an uncomfortable pause between them, the pair trying to ignore the large elephant filling up the back seat.

They entered the Normandy and Annie gave the orders to head to the Cerberus base as she headed upstairs. She wanted to look through some information Admiral Hackett had sent her as well as to have a moment to her own thoughts. There was an uneasy nagging in the back of her mind, a nagging trying to force her to expose the truth to Liara. Annie knew there would be a point in this final fight were she would have to make a choice…a choice Liara wouldn't agree with. But the commander couldn't bring herself to say it, not yet.

COMMENTS: Apologies on not being as regular the past few weeks. The end of the Mass Effect games is always a bit of a grind for me, so may feels. Plus I had a crazy week with school so I took the weekend to play some other games. I've even started up Dragon Age II again in preparation for the new game eventually coming out. Either way, enjoy.


	117. It Was Time to be Ready

Her cabin door opened as she ran her fingers over her helmet, brushing against a scratch on the paint. "I wondered where you were," Liara cooed, stopping at the bottom of the small staircase.

"EDI didn't tell you?"

"She respects your privacy. Not like me," it was clear the elephant in the room had followed the asari up the elevator. Liara glanced at the helmet, stepping towards Annie. "What are you doing?" It was small talk, an attempt to make something about the approaching conversation seem easier.

"I thought I heard the casing crack during that last match. Seems to just be the paint," Annie remarked, still not looking up from the helmet as she returned it to its place with the rest of her armor. Slowly she stepped around to the bed, settling herself down on the edge as she rested her elbows on her thighs.

"Do you feel ready, Annie?" And there the hammer fell as Annie glanced up, giving a forced smile.

"You first." Liara responded with a hard laugh and then a tired sigh, stepping over to the helmet to run her fingers along the edges.

"What I want most is for this war to end while there's still a galaxy left to save." She turned her face back towards Annie who was once again looking down at her lap. "And everyone's counting on you to do that for us. It must be overwhelming." Overwhelming was certainly one-way to put it. Annie glanced up at her lover, rolling her lips together in thought.

"How do you get ready for something like this?" Liara stepped towards Annie, settling herself down on the bed next to her.

"You cajole and threaten and make tremendous sacrifices. Until the galaxy realizes it has someone worth following." Annie gave a small smirk, leaning back onto her elbows to look up through the skylight on the ceiling, all of space drifting by.

"You think so?" She asked as Liara sat back in the same fashion but her eyes remained on Annie.

"There's no doubt in my mind."

Liara glanced down, shifting her hand over to slide around Annie's, pulling the Commander's attention from the skylight. They threaded their fingers together, the pair eye-to-eye in the small little capsule. "It would be easy for a single ship to get lost up there, wouldn't it?" Liara sighed, their attention turning upwards again.

"Yeah, it would."

"To find someplace very far away, where you could spend the rest of your life…in peace…and happiness," Annie glanced over at Liara, watching the woman drift light years away to another world. She was so beautiful. Slowly Annie leaned over, resting a delicate kiss on her cheek and pulling Liara's attention away from the window again as Annie sat up.

"Right now," she glanced over her shoulder, "there's no place I'd rather be." Liara sat up, sliding her hand against Annie's cheek as their foreheads pressed together.

"Neither would I." They pressed their lips gently together, Annie running her hand around Liara's waist just as the asari pulled back. "I love you, Annie." They'd said it plenty of times before, both playfully and in quiet moments together. But there was something different about this one, something deeper.

"I love you too, Liara," Annie breathed as Liara's grip on her cheek tightened, pulling her face forward the few inches once more as they lay back on the bed. Even the sex was different. There was more passion, more care. Each touch and feeling and sensation was met with a feeling of being closer to the other woman. If anything, Annie considered it beautiful as they hugged one another and let their eyes drift closed.

But the bliss ended as Annie was thrown back into her nightmare. Again she ran after the child in the white hoodie, trying tirelessly to catch him. But just as she neared the boy she watched him run up to a young woman. She was in military casuals, her hair tied up in a ponytail with a few wisps here and their framing her face. The stranger embraced the boy, seeming to whisper something inaudible in his ear before the pair of them turned towards Annie. Her breath caught as she looked upon herself, watching as the buzzing sound of the Reaper vibrated around her and then as flames engulfed them.

Annie woke with a start, breathing in sharply as she looked up at the stars and then over at a sleeping Liara next to her. But the moment Annie shifted, throwing her legs over the edge and sitting up, Liara woke too. "You can't sleep?" She mumbled, shifting towards Annie and dragging the blanket with her. She wrapped round Annie's back, pressing caring kissed against her freckled shoulders.

"We're almost there," Annie muttered, ignoring the question as she wiped at the sleep in her eyes.

"Already?"

"I hope everyone is ready," Annie huffed leaning forward as Liara gently ran her hand along Annie's bare back, sitting up more.

"You don't need to worry about that. You rallied who you could. The Reapers won't get any more changes to divide us. This time, the galaxy follows our lead." Her words should have been comforting and on one end they were, but Annie couldn't shake the nerves in her belly. What if it still wasn't enough?

"There will be casualties. I just wonder how many," millions already littered Earth's surface.

"You're not alone in this anymore, Annie. Take strength from that," Liara pressed as Annie gave a small smile. Her never-ending support. Her lifeline. Liara T'Soni was far more than anyone could ever define her to be. Annie kissed Liara delicately before pulling herself to her feet. It was time to dress and prepare for the attack on Cerberus.

Hackett had sent in the Fifth Fleet to give them some cover while they infiltrated the base. It wasn't where their resources needed to be but it was a necessity for this to work. She wouldn't let Cerberus slip through their fingers this time. The Reapers wouldn't wait much longer for Annie's arrival. And she wouldn't give them such a pleasure. So she geared up, dragging along an insistent Liara as well as EDI. The AI believed she would be helpful with Cerberus' enhanced security systems, which Annie certainly knew nothing about. Joker seemed less than pleased but like the rest of Annie's team knew it was the right choice.

Their entrance would be a hot one since they basically had to squeeze in the moment there was a gap in the flight bays. Cortez drove them in, avoiding fire between the Fifth Fleet and Cerberus. He crashed onto the base, opening the doors to let Annie and her team out. They immediately ducked behind nearby crates as Cortez headed off again, returning to the Normandy while Annie and her team dealt with the Cerberus security.

COMMENTS: Yippee for another long delay before I post! Apologies for the third time I believe. The last mission is always the roughest even when I'm not writing about it. I've changed up how I write it by writing out all of the dialogue and then going back and filling in details. I think I like it more simply because it allows me to just play the game and write on my own time rather than doing both at once. But then there's the problem of having to actually go back and write it at some point. I will do it! I don't want to stop after coming this far! Just please...be patient c:


	118. Beginning to Fill in the Spaces

Immediately the facility began warning Shepard and her team about the venting the hanger. That would mean expelling everything in the room out into space, to float uncontrollably about while the Fifth fleet and Cerberus battled. A shudder rolled down Annie's spine, she couldn't do it. She wouldn't be able to do it. They had to stop the command.

Fortunately, EDI seemed quite confident in her abilities to hack into the Cerberus systems. While Liara and Annie were covering the robot, EDI went about canceling the request and even found a way deeper into the facility. Unfortunately for Cerberus, that meant firing one of their fighters straight into the back of the hanger. The explosion punctured the interior and several more walls, allowing Annie and her team to easily step up to another security protected door.

"EDI can you get past it?" Annie checked her gun as Liara kept her eye on the opposite end of the hall.

"One moment. Cerberus has updated their encryption. There may be a slight delay as I bypass security." Annie nodded at EDI's remark, stepping up towards Liara and checking her armor for any signs of breaks. Though from the way Liara swatted at Annie's hand there was a chance her finges were exploring more than buckles and seals.

"How's Cerberus reacting to us breaching the door?" Annie asked, attempting to adjust the conversation before Liara said anything.

"They are sealing off as much of the base as they can. Most obvious routes to the central lab are blocked. Other areas are being fortified. Heavy troopers will attempt to delay us while engineers set up turrets." To think EDI used to be even more rigid than this when they first met. Annie could only wonder how much more she would grow as an AI…or even as a person.

"Any more surprises like venting the hangar?"

"No. I am aware of this facility's safeguards and can counteract them. Cerberus can merely slow us down."

"And if I hadn't brought you along…" Annie breathed, stepping up to her friend and resting her hand on EDI's shoulder as the door to her left opened to a ladder.

"Cerberus would have vented the hangar." Annie smiled at EDI response, stepping away and moving towards the ladder, only to pause and glance back.

"Thanks for coming."

"I am pleased to assist."

They would need to head into the sublevels to get around some of the destruction they created as well as the security measures Cerberus had implemented. But EDI seemed clear on where they needed to get to find the Prothean VI. It would be at the heart of the facility and Annie had a sneaking suspicion she'd find the Illusive Man's office not too far. There was a chance a room like that could house some pretty interesting information for the future. She would have to remind Liara to get on it before they left.

Each step they took involved waves of Cerberus troops. Sure, they weren't much of a challenge, but Annie hated how many people she had to step over. "We've killed scores of them," Liara panted, running her forearm across her forehead. The woman had been in constant use of her biotic abilities in such a small space.

"Their intention is to delay us, not to stop us. Engineers are currently preparing an organized defense." EDI explained as Annie grabbed some more ammo from a dead man's gun.

"They can waste that many troops?" The commander asked, moving towards a nearby ladder as she began pulling herself up it.

"Yes. Cerberus employed Reaper augmentation on captured civilians to create functional shock troops for fighting." EDI said it bluntly but Annie couldn't completely believe that was how EDI wished to react about it.

"I assumed they were volunteers, scared and looking for answers. This is…horrible." Liara whispered as Annie helped her lover climb the last few rungs of the ladder.

"Yes." EDI stated, but his tone had lowered, as if sympathy had snuck its way into her processors. And then they were onto another locked door as Annie tried to adjust Liara's gun. It kept jamming and had started to burn through her gloves. Liara tried to ignore it but as Annie delicately spread her palm out she could see the pained wince on her face. The medi-gel would cool the burn, but she would need to see Dr. Chakwas when they got back to the Normandy.

"We will be through momentarily," EDI informed them before glancing towards a nearby computer, gesturing towards it. "Shepard, that console has not been fully scrubbed. It contains data you may find interesting." Annie finished adjusting Liara's gun, reducing some of the power in hopes of slowing it from overheating.

"What am I looking at?" Annie asked, pressing a few buttons to look through the small bits of remaining information.

"Project Lazarus. Your reconstruction." EDI's eyes were on her omni-tool, shifting every so often to the door as Annie hesitated. For a year she'd been wondering about the details, about everything that had happened to her during those two years that Miranda wouldn't say. Even Liara seemed to hold some back. To one end Annie didn't want to hear about it, she wanted to enjoy the rest of her life just knowing she was alive to live it. But her fingers seemed to have a mind of their own as they pressed the blinking button on the console.

A scientist appeared on the screen, he looked like the man she'd seen when she first woke. He was pacing around a lab space, the hologram of the Illusive Man standing and smoking calmly in front of him. _It can't be done. It's not a matter of resources._

_It's always a matter of resources. We're not losing Shepard._ The Illusive Man was adamant in his words, seeming to tap his holographic ash into the air. But the scientist wouldn't just accept such a definite response.

_Sir, Shepard is clinically brain-dead. After that much trauma, that long with no oxygen… We cannot overcome nature._

_Operative Lawson disagrees. She is now in charge of Project Lazarus._ Annie blinked as the recording ended, staring at the black space before her head bowed.

"I didn't realize it was that bad," her voice was barely more than a whisper as Liara stepped up behind her. The asari rested her hand on Annie's lower back, making Annie shift her gaze back to her lover out of the corner of her eye.

"I saw what was…left of you. I thought you knew." There was truth in Liara's words but it didn't make Annie feel any better. She thought she'd simply been in a comma when they found her. But it was clear that she was dead, completely dead. Not that she should've been surprised after plummeting through a planet's atmosphere and crashing into the surface. "Are you all right?" Annie huffed, watching as Liara slid her other hand up Annie's arm, sliding her fingers between the commander's.

"I'm still me," Annie stated firmly. "I doubt I'd have been able to turn against Cerberus otherwise." For a moment Annie felt like she was talking to Ashley again, attempting to convince her that she wasn't with Cerberus. She felt like she was still trying to convince herself. "I don't remember anything. Maybe they really just fixed me, or maybe I'm just a high-tech VI that thinks it's Commander Shepard. But I don't know. I…" She hadn't really had much of a thought like that since after she first woke up. She'd come to believe that she really was Commander Shepard, but after seeing something like that she couldn't really decide.

Liara shifted from behind her, pulling her hand away from Annie's and tugging at her chin so she faced her lover. "Don't say that, Annie. I knew it was really you the first time I touched you again." Annie smiled but her gaze shifted downwards and then away from Liara. It was good to hear, but still unsettling to imagine just how improbable bringing her back to life seemed. She needed to hear more.

COMMENTS: So who's enjoying these massive hiatuses? I suddenly realized that Dragon Age: Inquisition is coming out in a month so I know I need to kick my writing into gear. Because the moment that game comes out I will disappear from society forever. Anywho, enjoy c:


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